My Little Pony: The Human Chronicles Season 3
by seniorcopycat
Summary: About a year after Toby defeated the evil version of Twilight and the young human has pretty much disappeared and gone on a path of self destruction after learning his true origins and when his friends confront him they are then thrown ten years into the future where they see a desolate Ponyville ruined by King Sombre, meet an older Toby and given a mission to save the future.
1. The End of Friendship Part 1

**My Little Pony: The Human Chronicles**

**Episode 29: The End of Friendship Part 1**

**Recap:** Last time, following the large revelation of Toby's true royal heritage and Toby and Twilight's big battle the girls went to talk to Twilight but were shocked when she revealed that she was working with Discord, who infected her with his magic quite a while ago and had been using her as a pawn ever since. With her at his command Evil Twilight became filled with darkness and turned the world into a chaotic playground, forcing Toby to fight her an epic battle that resulted in Toby being stuck in a half-human, half-alicorn form permanently and Twilight being magically handicapped but reverted completely back to normal. Needing some time to cope with the events Toby left the group but promised that they would see him again before flying off. That was one year ago.

There are many worlds and many timelines throughout the cosmos and in one of them giant, clawed feet attached to a giant, spiky dragon walked alone through a ruined and burned up wasteland. It looked absolutely gray and lifeless and… it was only ten years later in the future.

Nothing moved in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water and there didn't seemed to be any signs of life anywhere. It seemed to be cold enough to crack stones. The sky was darkened with ash rain and there was a lingering hopeless vibe throughout the ruined land.

In the unknown area darkened by ash rain and surrounded by ruined buildings and houses. The giant, one eyes, spiked dragon that had a few missing scales, some scars and broken spikes on his spine approached a red haired adult human male who appeared to be drawing something into the gray dirt.

"How's it coming?" The dragon asked.

"Almost finished." The man assured him.

"Wish I could tag along." The scaled beast confessed.

"Sorry. Only works for one, but don't worry… I won't be long." The human assured the beast.

"You realize how _dangerous_ this spell is right?" The dragon asked. "With all that Chrono and magical energy it's gonna exert… this… might be a one way ticket."

"Does _this_ look like a future worth returning to?" The man asked, sardonically as he gestured to the wasteland around them.

The dragon sighed. "Yeah… your right."

"Glad you agree."

The human adult then finished up what he was drawing in the ground. "Ok… it's all set up," he said.

"Good. Remember; bringing yourself out of that dark place and explaining all this…" The big dragon began. "You know… that's only the beginning."

"I know old friend. Big mission. Lots to do. Better get to it." The man nodded.

"Yeah?" The dragon asked before they heard a roar in the distance. "Well hurry it up before they come here."

"I know there coming, they always do…" The human stated. "But not today… or _ever_ again."

"I hope your right about this." The dragon said.

"That makes two of us…" The man confessed, as he closed his eyes, extended both of his arms then clapped his hands together. His eyes then opened up with a bluish glow. "Quis quandum era maflictus, iem feachus mas redentegero, quis venit pro mas mesquam essei!"

Then the lines in the circle around him began to glow as well. Pretty soon after a tower of light shot out of the circle and reached all the way towards the dark sky above them both before creating a triangular portal. The man then transformed in a ball of lighting that crackled a bit before shooting towards the sky, into the portal and vanishing. Once he left, the glow in the circle faded as well, leaving the one eyed dragon alone.

"Good luck… Toby," he said, quietly as a cool breeze filled with ash rushed by him.

* * *

**Present Day**

In the town of Ponyville, things were more or less the same as they were a year ago since Toby and Twilight had their epic battle. Most of the towns people didn't talk much about it and instead went about their everyday lives. Though one thing was very different then it was a year ago; Toby Morrison was nowhere to be found and many of the ponies in town were beginning to ask questions and worry a great deal.

Most of the saviors of Equestria were currently at Sugercube corner sulking around a bit while Pinkie continued to make loud, eating noises as she chowed down on a very large cake. Most of the sounds were a bit disgusting and were beginning to get on everypony's nerves, Spike even tried to block out the sound using issue paper but it didn't really work.

Eventually Rarity got so sick of it that she slammed her hooves on the table they were all seated at and stood up, catching everypony's attention.

"What's wrong Rarity?" Pinkie Pie asked, her mouth full of creamy frosty.

"What's _wrong_? Well I will _tell_ you what is _wrong_!" Rarity proclaimed, dramatically. "One our dearest friends is missing, Twilight downright _refuses_ talk to anypony, the Princess' are unable to help, yet _you_ have managed to consume three cakes, six cupcakes, a side of gum, and two candy bars! Shame on you, don't you even _care_?!"

"Hey! Don't' mistake my appetite for apathy!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Or… what feeling showing or no interest, enthusiasm, or concern means in a different form or twenty different languages!"

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused.

"Yeah, I learned how to say 'upset' in twenty different languages!" Pinkie Pie informed them.

"When'd you learn _that_?" Applejack questioned.

"Last night." Pinkie replied, quickly. "Isn't it, super?"

"Yeah… fantastic…" Rainbow said, slowly.

"Yes… good for you Pinkie…" Fluttershy added.

"Aw, come on, why so frowny-wowny everypony?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Don't you remember? Toby disappearing? Twilight becoming a _shut in_?" Spike reminded her, bluntly.

Pinkie's mane deflated just then. "Oh yeah…" she said, sorrowfully.

"Speaking of which, any of you talk to Twilight lately?" Applejack asked.

"You know we haven't." Rarity said, ruefully.

"Yeah, she's still venting her anger out on everything like always…" Spike said, sadly. "Not on _me_ of course but still…"

Indeed, Twilight Sparkle had been filled with self loathing ever since Discord's magic turned her evil and transformed her into an evil version of herself that nearly killed everypony. She seemed constantly angry and sad ever since.

"You know somepony should _do_ something about this, instead of just sitting here sulking!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed.

"I… I guess so…" Fluttershy admitted, quietly.

"Yeah? And what's stopping _you_ Rainbow?" Applejack questioned her, accusingly.

"Well I…" Rainbow began to say.

"Yes, we _all_ know how you feel about young Tobias Rainbow Dash, so we're surprised that you haven't been searching all over Equestria for him." Rarity remarked.

"I have! But that doesn't mean I have feelings for him!?" Rainbow exclaimed, full of denial.

"Okey, dokey then…" Pinkie Pie said, unconvinced.

"So how come you haven't found him yet?" Spike asked.

"I don't know… it's like he's spent all six months covering his tracks." Rainbow Dash said.

"I've heard rumors about him from other towns… some refer to him as a guardian angel… and others; a ghost." Rarity added.

"So the kid still helping folks…" Applejack mused.

"That's… good. Right?" Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, but he's still not showing up at home, he does write to us and with _his_ mental state Ah doubt he's taking very good care of himself right now." Applejack reasoned.

"Oh…" Fluttershy stated, lowering her head.

"If Twilight were here, _she'd_ know what to do about him" Spike said to them all. "And if Toby were here he'd know what to do about _her_. But… without of either of them…"

"Alright, that's it!" Rainbow Dash declared, getting up. "No more sulking! We're gonna do something about Twilight right here and now!"

"What do you suggest, Rainbow?" Rarity inquired.

"Let's head over to her place and try to talk her out of there!" Rainbow Dash stated. "Come on, girls!"

Spike then cleared his throat.

"And Spike…" the Pegasus finished.

"Thank you." The dragon said, gratefully.

"Are you with me?" she asked them.

"I am!" Pinkie said.

"And I as well!" Rarity added.

"Me too… I really want my friend back." Fluttershy nodded.

"What about Toe?" Applejack pointed.

"We'll worry about him later, right now Twi needs us!" Rainbow Dash stated as she zoomed out the door, with the others following her close behind.

* * *

Later, the Mane Five and their little dragon companion walked through town and approached the Golden Oaks Tree library where the purple unicorn known as Twilight hid inside her little fortress of knowledge.

"Well, here we are." Spike said. "She's probably locked the doors on me again…"

"How do you get in?" Fluttershy asked him.

Spike pointed to a small hole near the tree. "Through that, it's surprising fun to go through… though a need afterwards…" he muttered.

Rainbow narrowed her gaze at the tree. "Hey Twilight! Come out!" she yelled, but there was no answer. "Come on Twi, open up! We know you're in there!"

"Yeah, Twi, what's the matter?" Applejack added. "Come on talk to us."

"We're really getting worried about you…" Fluttershy told her.

"No! I can't… it's… to dangerous!" Twilight proclaimed.

"What in Equestria are you _talking about_, dear?" Rarity questioned.

"I did a magical scan on myself this morning and while it says that Discord's magic has been purged from me… I worry that he might still be in there!" Twilight stated, fearfully.

"Oh, come on, Twi! Your being _paranoid!_" Rainbow Dash told her, bluntly.

"Listen, we know your still sore over what happened and what you did, but you _shouldn't_!" Applejack said to her.

"Please come back to us Twi… please?" Spike begged.

There was a long pause before Twilight's suddenly horn glowed and then she teleported from where she stood to where she should have been all this time. She jumped the couple of inches between her and her friends, attempting to capture them all in one big hug.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she sobbed as they comforted her. Even Rainbow Dash moved in close to softly pat her on the back.

"It's ok Twi…" Rainbow assured her.

"Yeah, we forgive you!" Pinkie Pie added.

"You… you do?" Twilight Sparkle asked, surprised.

"Well of course we do! We're your friends!" Applejack reminded.

"But… but how _could_ you forgive me… after everything that happened… everything I _did_…" The unicorn inquired sadly.

"Ah, don't worry about it Twilight, it's all water under the bridge." Spike told her.

"Besides, it was a whole year ago, more than enough time for us to realize that it was_ never_ your fault." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, it was _Discord's_ and nopony else's whatsoever." Rainbow added.

"Thank Celestia and Luna _he_ is keeping quiet for once." Rarity confessed. Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

"Why what did Luna do to him exactly?" Twilight asked, curiously.

"You _don't_ want to know…" Spike told her, glancing away uncomfortably.

"But don't worry, after Toby foiled his little scheme he hardly has any fight left in him at all!" Applejack stated, proudly.

"Well that's good to hear…" The unicorn said, relieved.

"It is indeed." Rarity smiled in agreement. The others also nod in agreement to this statement as well.

"Say… now that I think about it where _is_ Toby anyway?" Twilight Sparkle wondered.

"I don't really know…" Applejack admitted. "What about you gals?"

"Well… I did see him around town a couple of times for quite a few weeks." Rarity said. "Five months ago, I believe."

"Me too. He shows up for a couple of days… and then leaves." Rainbow Dash said "Then he just… _disappeared_ like all together. No pony has seen him since."

Twilight looked away from a second before turning to the others. "Then we're going to have to go find him," she declared.

"We've tried Twi…" Spike stated, sadly.

"Then we try again!" Twilight Sparkle said, determined. "Where's the last place he was spotted?"

"Here in Ponyville… but he still hasn't been seen anywhere since…" Applejack answered.

"It's not that easy to find one human in Equestria…" Twilight mused. Then she got an idea. "Luna! I bet if we can convince her to try and find the only mind she can't connect to then we can find Toby no problem!"

"Right! He's the only one whose dreams she can't enter." Fluttershy realized.

"Exactly!" Twilight nodded. "Have any of you tried asking her this yet?"

"Well we _tried_ asking the Princess' for help, but they've been so busy lately that they hardly have time to talk to us!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed.

"No doubt still trying to come to grips with the recent events." Rarity said.

"Well, they'll listen to _me_… hopefully." Twilight Sparkle stated. "Spike… take a letter."

Spike then took out a scroll and a quill. "I thought you'd never ask."

He then began to write down what Twilight wanted to say to Celestia on the letter.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the Princess's castle in the city of Canterlot, Princess Luna burst into the chambers of her older sister Celestia, who was gazing out the open window of her room with a somber look, similar to the first day Toby first arrived in Equestria.

"Sister, how do you feel?" Luna asked her older sister concerned.

"I'm fine Luna…" Celestia said, almost mindlessly.

"We _both_ know that _that_ is not true." Princess Luna stated. "Did you receive Twilight's latest letter?"

Celestia nodded. "I did."

"And?" her younger sister asked, expectedly.

Princess Celestia sighed deeply. "I just do not know how else to help him Luna… I am mother… who cannot even help her own son… I don't deserve this crown.

"No! That is _not _true. I refused believe that! And I don't think you believe that either." Princess Luna stated. "Now I know you feel terrible about what occurred her nearly one year ago today… but you have to believe we when I say that it is time we moved on from the past and look to the _future_."

You may be right… but will Tobias?" Princess Celestia asked.

"That… is unclear… given this present state…" Luna mused.

"It appears that recent events have deeply affected him." Celestia deduced. "Learning the truth, the golem dying in his mind… and having to fight Twilight… it's all added up."

"A combination of an identity crisis and post-traumatic stress…" Luna mused. "A toxic combination."

"Indeed, and all because of _Discord_… he planned all of this from the start, just to get revenge on him." Princess Celestia said, ruefully.

"And it appears even though we locked him away permanently… he still succeeded." Princess Luna concluded.

"I suppose Discord had the last laugh after all…" Celestia mused, sadly.

"Yes… that may be the case…" Luna admitted.

The Princess of the Day then began to walk away. "Where are you going?" the Princess of the Night questioned.

"To go find him himself."

"You can't." Luna told her.

"I cannot just stand around and do nothing anymore Luna!" Celestia stated before Luna teleported in front of her.

"Sister! Even if you find him, how exactly do you plan on bringing him home? It's been six months since he was last spotted. We've been searching all that time. We sent our guards, the Wonderbolts, we have done _everything we can_," she said, firmly.

"Luna…"

"That fact is that Tobias… _doesn't_ want to be found." Luna stated. "He'll come back home when he is ready. We just need to have faith. Okay?"

"Maybe… but still, can you please try to find him and tell me how he is right now?" Luna's older sister asked her, almost pleadingly.

Luna nodded. "I can try."

* * *

Meanwhile in another small town like Ponyville, only a bit grungier, a scruffy stallion wearing ski mask and carrying a bag full of bits ran out of a store only to be stopped by a magical aura.

"What the…?" he said before he was thrown into the side of the building, and knocked out. A familiar two legged young man ten stepped out of the shadows as the owner of the building the thief just robbed, a big, bearded stallion came running over.

"I was watching through the window. _That_ was amazing!" he said to Toby.

Toby now looked to be eighteen and was now much taller but still has his neon blue hair, red wings, ears and monkey like tail plus his apparent depression have seemed led to a lack of grooming, sleeping and training, resulting in him losing noticeable muscle, gaining dark circles under his eyes, growing his hair shaggy, and sporting a stubble on his chin. His clothes are also greatly torn and his once long sleeved shirt is so shredded now looks like a tank top. He silently walked over to the thief and picked up the sack.

"Can I offer you a reward?" The bearded stallion asked.

"No need." Toby said, handing him the sack. "Your thanks is all the reward I need.

The thief then groaned loudly. The bearded stallion turned to him.

"Hey, do you think you just crippled that guy?" he asked Toby.

"Oh, he's young, he'll walk again." Toby said, nonchalantly. "See ya."

Toby then flew off and as he did so he failed to see Luna watching him from afar with a serious look on her face. She then conjured up a scroll and quill and began to write something down on it.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle. Tel your friends that I found him. And it's worse than we thought." Luna said as she wrote on the scroll, with a solemn voice.

* * *

Later, in a forest clearing a blue triangle suddenly opened up in the sky and the man from earlier then dropped out of it and landed on the grass in a prone position. He looked toward a certain direction and saw Toby flying in.

"Looks this is the time and place…" The man mused as he put on his hood. "Time to get to work.

As the man walked off Toby flew downwards towards a hill top close by but his landing was far from perfect, no doubt due to this tired state. He stumbled and fell, and landed at Spike's feet. He looked up and noticed him.

"Uh… hey Toe, need a claw…I mean hand?" Spike asked, offering him his claw. Toby just brushed it away.

"No. I don't need any help." Toby grunted as he got up.

"We think you do."

Toby turned and saw all six of his closest friends stepping out of the shadows and surrounding him in a circle.

"What _you guys_ doing here?" Toby questioned.

"Well that's a pretty rude 'hello'." Pinkie remarked.

"Sorry… wasn't expecting company…" Toby admitted, still grumpy. "Not that I wanted at the moment."

"Toby… please, just tell us what's wrong." Twilight urged him.

"Hmm, where do I begin? I look like a _freak_, my true Mom _lied_ to be and for the past year you guys have been calling me crazy and getting in my way!" Toby snarled.

"Dude, are you even _listening_ to yourself?" Spike asked him, bluntly.

"Yeah, quit your belly aching already!" Applejack snapped at him. "We've all been worried sick about ya for the better part of six months and this is how ya act? You got a funny way of greeting your friends, Toe."

"I'm grateful for all you guys have done for me… but I just can't go back… it's too dangerous." Toby stated. "Besides… nopony would want me there anyway."

"Oh sure they would! Sure they would!" Fluttershy tried to convince him.

"Besides _you guys_." Toby added.

"Oh… besides us… there's uh…" Fluttershy began.

"No one. Everypony can hide it, but I can tell that they think I'm a _freak_… I sure do." Toby finished, sadly

"Your only like this because of _me_, because of what _I_ did to you!" Twilight proclaimed. "This is all _my_ fault!"

"Not it's not Twi, Discord infected you with his magic and his darkness just took over." Toby reasoned.

"But I… I _let_ it take over…" Twilight Sparkle said, regretfully.

"Well the darkness is gone now." Toby stated. "But I… like I said; I don't have a place _anywher_e any more…"

"And I said you do; with us!" Pinkie reminded him. "And then you said…"

"I know what I said!" Toby snapped, frustrated.

"Easy, no need to snap at her!" Spike told him.

"It's ok Spike, he's just stressed." Twilight stated.

"I'm not 'stressed'… I'm angry…" Toby admitted. "But not at you guys…"

"I know… at Princess Celestia." Twilight Sparkle finished for him.

"AKA your new Mom!" Pinkie Pie added.

"She's not my Mom! She hasn't done a _thing_ to be motherly towards me!" Toby said, angry.

"Except all over Equestria to find you and bring you back!" Rainbow countered.

"Toby, I know you feel lost, but that doesn't mean you're alone." Twilight assured him. "We're all here for you."

"I'm telling you, I'm fine." Toby insisted.

"Fine? When was the last time you _ate_? The time you _slept_?" Twilight questioned.

"And shaved." Rarity added, a bit disgusted.

"And got a hair cut!" Pinkie Pie piped up.

"Don't preach to me." Toby stated. "I'm in the best shape of my life."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow Dash inquired, unconvinced as she flew straight for him, which surprised him and nearly knocked him off the cliff before she grabbed him with her hoof. "Ha! 'Best shape of your life'? That was me going _slow_, Toby. _Very_ slow."

"Toby, you used to treat your body like a _temple_ but now…" Twilight began.

Toby dropped to his knees, feeling weak. "My body's no temple! It's a freak of nature…" he said.

"Didn't we already tell you? No more Toby yelling at Toby!" Pinkie Pie told him.

"Toby, please come back home… we miss you, everypony in town misses you." Fluttershy urged him as he got back up.

"You must mean the other guy, my pony self Prince Crimson Dawn, _that's_ the guy you want to be friends with." Toby said, bitterly.

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow questioned.

"You said it yourself; I now look more like a pony…" Toby pointed out.

"I was trying to compliment you, cheer you up!" The cyan Pegasus insisted.

"Look, if you think we're gonna just ditch one of our friends, your dead wrong pal." Rainbow Dash stated. "And before you even _think_ about mentioning 'Crimson Dawn' again, let's face the facts, _he_ was _never_ our friend."

"She's right sugercube, we befriended a boy named _Toby Morrison_. _Not _Crimson Dawn." Applejack stated.

"Indeed, while I do enjoy being in the presence of royalty I much prefer to be in the presence of _you_." Rarity added.

"Yeah, you're the guy we first met, the guy we hung out beside, fought beside… you're the only _you_ we _know_." Rainbow Dash told him.

"You're our _friend_, just because you're only pony hybrid with anger management issues doesn't change that." Twilight said.

"Don't forget, we hang out with a dragon all the time too, so you're not much of a stretch." Applejack added. "And seriously… have you met Rainbow Dash?"

"Hey!" The aforementioned pegasus protested.

Toby lowered his head. "All done?"

"I don't know, are we?" Pinkie Pie asked the others curiously.

"No! We're not! Not until you come _home!_" Rainbow Dash stated.

"Then it is going to be a _very, long night!"_ Toby said, stubbornly. "I can't go home yet guys, I still need to figure things out and find out just _who I am_. In this form… I can't even recognize myself…"

Spike lowered his head a little then approached his best friend more closely.

"Hey, look Toby, believe it or not, I know what you're going through." Spike told him. "Did Twi and the others ever tell you about when I first met Garble?"

"Later on, yeah, they said you went on a 'quest of self-discovery'.' Toby nodded.

"Exactly, I kept asking myself the whole time; 'Who am I?' 'Where am I from?' 'And who am I suppose to be?'." Spike said.

"But?" Toby asked.

"But eventually I learned that what I am, is not the same as _who_ I am, and that goes for you too ya know." Spike stated. "_We_ know who you are Toe and so should you. So what do ya bro? Do you want to come home now?"

"Yeah, I mean it's your not gonna find another lost relative, feel _another_ creature die inside your head and another one of us and not Twilight!" Pinkie Pie added.

Toby then started to pant sharply, like he was out of breath or having an asthma attack. As he does so, t images of his fight with Twilight began to violently flash in his mind as well as little bits of his and Celestia's conversation when she revealed that he was her long lost son.

"Toe? Toby, what's wrong?" Applejack questioned, concerned. "What's happening to him?"

"He's having an anxiety attack!" Twilight realized.

"No doubt caused by _somepony_ mentioning all the traumatic things he had to go through." Rarity said, scowling at Pinkie.

"Oops…" Pinkie said, smiling sheepishly.

"Come on Toe, breath, breath!" Spike told him. Toby then began to take deep breaths one at a time. "That's it… slow and steady… slow and steady…"

Toby then let out a long sigh.

"There, better?" Pinkie asked him.

"Ok. I admit it! I admit it! I am a mess! A piping hot mess. My fault. Sorry!" Toby finally blurted out which made Spike and the girls all listen to him. "Look… nothing's been the same since the second Discord incident, Twilight turning evil… and Celestia turning out to be my Mom… all of it."

"Yeah… we kinda figured that." Twilight admitted.

"You experience things and then they're over and you still can't explain 'em. Chaotic gods, monsters, other dimensions. I...I'm just a man." Toby confessed. "The only reason I haven't cracked up is probably because you girls came to check up on me. Which is great. I love you all, I'm lucky. But, ladies… I _can't sleep._ And when I do have nightmares and honestly… there's a hundred people out there who want to kill me. Every time you go all to bed, I come out here. I do what I know, I fight. But the threat is always… imminent, and I have to protect the first friends I ever had that I just can't live without. That's you guys."

The girls all stare at him sympathetically and a little touched by his declaration of protection. Then Rainbow stepped forward.

"So basically your pushing us away to make your no bad guys can hurt is… blah, blah, blah is that it?" she asked.

"It's not something to joke about." Toby said.

"Your right! There could be super villains hiding in the tall grass…" Rainbow Dash said, in a deadpan tone.

"I'm _poisoned_ girls. _Cursed_." Toby grumbled.

"Your _silly_, Morrison." Rainbow shot back.

"It's not silly for me to want to keep you girls safe… and Spike." Toby said.

"Yeah, and when you let us keep _you_ safe?" Rainbow countered.

"Look… I was forced to fight Twilight, my friend, once…" Toby began, "I won't ever let that happen again and I can only do that… by staying away from you. Now if you'll excuse me…"

Toby then began to walk away from them again.

"Toby…" Twilight began to say.

Then before he could leave the hooded man suddenly appeared in front of them, much to their surprise.

"Not so fast!" he cried as his gloved hand then glowed with a bluish magical aura.

"What the…?" Toby said as a large circle then began to appear around them. "What's going on? What is this? _Who are you!?"_

The man chuckled. "All in good time, kid," he said before vanishing and allowing his magical energy to come their way.

The energies swirled around and around in a circle and began to slowly consume, Toby, Spike and the girls. The ponies scrabbled to keep a hold of something as the wind began howling. The six friends looked at each other as they held on to the ground for dear life. Applejack summed up the situation beautifully.

"Well, horse apples."

Then there was a blinding flash of white light that quickly filled the area and when it faded all that was left of the group was a large black burn mark on the ground.

* * *

Soon after they all disappeared, all six of the ponies, the human hybrid and the baby dragon were all screaming as they each swirled around and around the colorful vortex.

Toby groaned as he slowly came back to consciousness. His head was pounding and she raised his head, looking around.

"Man… what…" he breathed.

He let out a sigh of relief when she saw his friends lying on the ground, each of them making assorted noises as they woke up. Applejack rubbed the back of her head with a hoof as she looked around for her hat.

"Man… I ain't felt like that since the day Big Macintosh found that barrel of forgotten cider in the cellar and we drank it all so it wouldn't go bad," she muttered.

"What's wrong with that?" Rainbow Dash asked, stretching her wings and making sure nothing was broken. "I like cider."

Applejack found her hat and placed it back on her head. "We didn't realize it had fermented until the next morning…"

"Oh…" The cyan pony said.

"Everypony alright?" Toby asked them all. They all nod and confirmed that they were indeed alright.

"I think so…" Spike nodded.

"I'm ok Toby…" Twilight assured him.

"Me three!" Pinkie Pie chirped. She then heard Applejack gasping sharply. "Applejack? What's wrong? Your jaw is open all the way!"

"The moon!" Fluttershy cried. "Look at the moon!"

The group looked up and saw what Fluttershy was wailing about. The moon hung in the sky, but while it was still mostly round, it was shattered. Fragments hung in the sky, looking bleak and ruined while dark snow fell from the sky all over the ruins around them. The snow was gray and thick, the slush blending with ash that coated the muddy ground. It was the same sickening color as the sky, the same muted gray that spoke nothing of the sun.

"Not just moon… look at everywhere!" Rarity added.

The trees of the Everfree Forest were brown husks with sickly bare, black limbs were evil-looking, with their bent and twisted shapes as their branches scraped at the sky and there were ruined and destroyed buildings and houses all around them. The whole place looked like the result of a nuclear explosion.

"Oh man…" Toby breathed, horrified.

"Where in Equestria _are_ we?" Twilight wondered.

"I was hoping _you_ knew Twi…" Spike admitted.

"How'd we even _get_ here?" Rainbow Dash wondered out loud.

"_I_ brought you all here."

They're eyes all widened as they turned to the source of the voice, which appeared to the stranger in the hood again.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Toby demanded.

"Fine." The stranger said as he took off his head and stepped forward so that they could all see him better and when they finally did their eyes all widened, especially Toby.

The man appeared to be about twenty-eight years of age and was tall in stature, much taller than Toby and possibly even Celestia. He had broad shoulders and was very muscular and strongly built, most noticeably on his upper body and had mature facial features with a square shaped face and strong jaw. He also has short red hair and blue eyes. The man also wore a pale blue hoodie, brown jeans and black combat boots with black fingerless gloves.

"Whoa…" Rainbow breathed.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare any of you." The man said, before mumbling to himself. "Man, I look young…"

"Who… who are you?" Toby finally asked.

After a long pause the man spoke. "I'm _you_."

Everypony gasped sharply at this, Pinkie even did a spit take. while Toby looked dumbstruck. "Come again?" he asked.

"He sayings he's _you_ in the future!" Twilight said, with realization in her voice.

"Yeah… a bigger and taller you…" Spike observed.

"Correct." Older Toby nodded, as he turned to the others. "Man… I can't tell you how nice it is to see you girls _young_ again."

"Are you saying we get _old_ in future?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"So well _this _just keeps getting better and better!" Rarity proclaimed.

The seemingly older Toby walked closer to them. "Look, I don't have much time… I'm risking a rift just by _summoning_ you here, but I had no choice," he said. "I needed to talk to you… I needed you to see…"

"See what?" Toby inquired.

"The future… Welcome to Ponyville, ten years later to be precise." Older Toby replied. "Look around, tell me if I'm lying."

Everypony looked at the devastation around them and began to recognize buildings that resembled the ones in Ponyville but most, if not all of them, were reduced to rubble and had ash rain falling down on them. They saw places like the town hall, the Carousel Boutique, Sugercube Corner, the Library even Quills and Sofas, all destroyed beyond repair, much to their shock and horror. A dreary tone set all around them.

"_This_ is the future…?" Twilight breathed, completely horrified.

"Sure ain't great spring break destination…" Spike muttered in a deadpan tone.

"You got that right and you should see it from up in space, it's even _worse_." Future Toby said, somberly as his hand glowed and a holographic like image of a planet appeared. It was dark and brown and looked almost dead, though maybe it _was_. "Not a pretty sight, is it?"

"Whoa, Nellie…" Applejack remarked, almost speechless as she lowered her hat.

"No…" Fluttershy whimpered as she covered her mouth with her hooves.

"Oh no! The whole planet looks like a rotten gumball!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Pinkie Pie… gumball's don't…" Rarity began to say but she trailed off. "Oh, what's the _use_?"

"You brought us to the worst possible version of the future…" Past Toby realized.

"No. Unless the upcoming crisis is _stopped_, this is your _best_ possible future." Future Toby corrected.

"Bummer…" Spike griped.

Rainbow frowned, turned to Future Toby and looked him in the eye. "Alright Future Toby, talk! Who _did_ this!?" she demanded.

"Sombra." Future Toby responded, surprising everypony.

"King Sombra? But I thought you blew that guy up." Toby said to Spike and the others.

"Yeah, we... in your words... blew up him, mangled him and sent him packing, mostly thanks to me since I got the Crystal Heart of course." Spike stated. "You know, I never _did_ get a thank you note from _any_ of you guys."

"How did you even _get us here?_" Twilight questioned.

"Time spell." Future Toby replied. "Don't ask how I got it. But let's just say a lot can happen in ten years."

"But… I don't understand… the last time I used a time spell it ended in disaster!" The purple mare exclaimed.

"Oh yeah… Spike told me about the time you turned yourself into a wreck because you were so worried about the future." Past Toby realized. "He also mentioned that you created a_ time paradox_."

"Uh… sorry?" Twilight said, blushing embarrassed.

"Yeah, I remember that too, that's way _this time_ I _summoned_ you here instead of going there myself." Future Toby stated. "Still risky though."

"He's right, time travel is _very_ tricky business." Twilight said. "The less we know the better."

"Yeah, well, on _that_ I'd have to disagree…" Future Toby confessed.

"What do you mean?" Toby asked his older self.

"I mean that the situation here is more dire then you think and to save it, _you guys_ are gonna have to fix things on your end," he said.

"Yeah? And why haven't you asked 'Mom' and 'Aunt Luna' for help?" Past Toby questioned.

"Not to mention… where are we?" Rainbow added.

"Are we…" Fluttershy began.

"No. Your other selves are fine… they're not that easy to kill." The bigger version of Toby said. "I can't say the same for the rest…"

"Do you mean…" Twilight started to say as what he was trying to say sunk into her head, and the mere thought of it terrified her.

"Celestia and Luna are _dead_… and I haven't seen any of the others in _years_." Future Toby said. Everypony was shocked.

"But… but… didn't we send you letters?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yeah… but I didn't answer any of them." The man said.

"And why _not?" _Toby snapped.

"It's complicated. Here, let me take you someplace you might recognize also." Older Toby said as he snapped his fingers and they instantly changed locations to an even more barren part of the world.

"Now where are we?" Past Toby inquired.

"Yeah, I don't recognize this place at all…" Spike confessed.

"No..." Applejack whispered, staring into the grove of blighted and ruined trees that surrounded them.

"Applejack?" Rarity asked, lightly poking her friend with a hoof. "Are you all right?"

"AJ, what's wrong?" Toby inquired

"It's gone." Applejack turned to look at Rarity and Toby, a haunted look on her face and tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "It's all gone."

"What's gone?" Twilight asked, walking over to her. "Applejack? Do you know where we are?"

"You bet I know where we are." Applejack said. "I'd know this place anywhere."

"You do?" Pinkie asked, looking around at the dreary landscape. "Why would you recognize a yucky place like this? I mean, okay, maybe yucky isn't the right word, but it's definitely not the kind of place I would hang out inMMMMPH!"

"Put a cork in it, Pinkie." Rainbow said, annoyed, slapping her hooves over Pinkie's mouth.

"So where are we?" Spike asked.

"You've hung out here lots of times, sugarcube," Applejack said sadly. She hung her head and closed her eyes, the tears beginning to flow. "We all have… This is Sweet Apple Acres."

The other ponies eyes widened as they looked around at the blighted trees, the crabgrass that grew everywhere, and the general bleakness of the surroundings. In the distance, a half demolished barn that they all knew very well was visible, the sight making their hearts sink.

Applejack turned to Rarity and buried her face in the other mare's shoulder. Rarity put a hoof around Applejack's shoulders as the cowpony began to sob quietly.

"Yeah… been like this for years now…" Future Toby mused, he seemed to be used to the sight.

"And It'll keep looking this way until you _do_ something."

Everypony turned and their eyes widened when they saw the giant one eyed dragon approaching them.

Fluttershy screamed. "DRAGON!"

"Wait a minute…" Spike began as he got a better look at the dragons scales, spikes and spines. They were the same color as his and the dragon looked a lot like the way he did when he began consumed by Dragon greed. "Your… _me_… Spike?"

"Wrong. I am the last of the dragons and a noble warrior." The giant dragon said. "_You_ are but a hatching and impulsive annoyance."

"Boy… you've become a real charmer…" Rainbow muttered to Spike, sarcastically.

"Wait… _last_ of the dragons?" Spike repeated.

"Yeah, Sombra wiped them all out… including Garble… not that he didn't deserve it." Future Spike said.

"How did this happen anyway How'd he take over?" Toby questioned his older self.

"I can't tell too much without breaking the time stream more then I already have." Older Toby stated.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Rainbow Dash demanded, a bit annoyed.

"It means that if we know too much about our future… it could make things even worse than they already are!" Twilight realized.

"Could… that really happen?" Fluttershy asked, scared.

"Uh… have you _seen_ this place! It doesn't get any worse than _this_!" Rainbow said, firmly.

"It's still dangerous, Rainbow Dash." The older Toby told her. "One seemingly meaningless event can topple a row of dominoes. Like a rock thrown through a windshield, it can leave cracks throughout history."

"Really?" Twilight Sparkle asked, surprised by this information.

"Let's not try any experiments." Future Toby said.

"So what _can_ you tell us?" Toby asked.

Future Toby then took something out of his pocket and handed it to Toby. "Here," he said. Toby grabbed it was a scroll of some kind. "All of these are events that our going to occur soon that you _need_ stop, they should lessen the condition here, course the last one's kind of… a doozy."

Pinkie Pie gasped, sharply. "Oh no! Not a _doozy!_" she screamed.

"I'm afraid so." Future Toby confirmed.

"What _kind_ of a 'doozy'?" Rarity inquired.

"The kind that destroys our friends _permanently_." The future version of Toby replied, bluntly.

"_How?_" Past Toby demanded.

"Again, I can't tell you much… but a certain event occurs… ok? Something _big_… involving Sombra." Future Toby began to explain. "After that… things weren't the same. A line was draw, sides were chosen… it tore us all apart!"

"Oh my…" Fluttershy breathed.

"No… our friendship… _over_." Applejack gasped. "That can't be…"

"Can be and _is_." Future Toby stated.

"Can… can we fix it?" Twilight asked, hopefully.

"_I_ can't… but you guys _can_." Future Toby said. "With my help, you _won't_ make the same mistakes."

"Why? Why can't _you_ do it?" Toby questioned.

"Because I made terrible choices… stepped on too many butterflies…" His older self muttered.

"What's _that_ mean?" Younger Spike asked.

"It's called the butterfly effect, hatchling." Future Spike stated.

"The butterfly effect is an idea, used in chaos theory, it's states that a very small difference in the initial state of a physical system can make a significant difference to the state at some later time." Twilight Sparkle explained.

"Oh!" Pinkie Pie said, seemingly understandingly before turning to the others and whispering. "I don't know what that means."

"It means what I said earlier; changing even one _minor_ thing could be disastrous for _everyone_." Future Toby began.

"Like it could make a future where _none of us_ might be in it." Past Toby finished. "Oh, by the way… there's one thing that's been bugging me a little… how come _you_ look normal and I _don't_?"

Older Toby rolled his eyes. "Oh for the love of… hang on," he said he placed a palm on Toby's chest. It glowed and after his body glowed with a bright blue aura his wings, ears and tail went back into his body and his hair became red again, but still shaggy. Everypony was stunned.

"I'm… back to normal…" Young Toby said, astonished.

"_Abnormal_ in our case." Future Toby reminded him. "Though I have to warn you, whenever you want to fly you'll end up being turned back into _that_."

"Aw…" Little Toby complained.

"Don't mope, it's just how we are." Big Toby told him, as he bent down and put a comforting hand on his past self's shoulder. "Accept it, you'll be much better off. Trust me… or self. Ugh, man time travel makes verb tenses so confusing…"

"Oh you have no idea…" Twilight agreed.

"So wait… if this is the future… shouldn't _big_ Toby remember all already?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "I mean… it just doesn't make any sense!"

"It's time travel Rainbow, it _never does_." Toby reminded her.

"Look, in this world there are no 'alternate timeline's." Big Toby said. "Time's like a river, going in one direction and one direction only. Now, by completing each of these goals on that list it will create a ripple through time that will change everything around us to change in order to accommodate to that revision."

"So the reason why nothing has changed yet is because we haven't gone into the past yet and changed anything." Toby deduced. "But once we do, this place will change and future me here will probably receive memories of doing so in the process."

"Make sense to _me_!" Pinkie Pie chirped.

"Really? Because it's making my brain hurt!" Spike groaned.

"Time travel tends to do that." Future Toby shrugged.

"Which is why it is so dangerous." Future Spike added. "I warned this guy what might happen, but he wouldn't listen."

"Oh just button it! I worked didn't it?" Old Toby pointed out.

"Yeah whatever…" Old Spike said, turning away.

"Well, at least we still act like us… sort of." Young Toby remarked to Spike.

"Yeah, that's _one_ upside… I think." Spike said.

"Remember; fixing my mistakes and stopping Sombra…" Future Toby began as he looked at the scroll thoughtfully. "You know… that's only the beginning."

"I know Future Me. Big mission. Lots to do. Better get to it." Past Toby nodded.

"Then we'd better get you all home." Spike stated. "Toe?"

"I'm on it." Older Toby said as he prepared to cast his spell before he heard a nearby rustling noise that made his eyes widen.

"What? What's wrong?" Toby asked his future self curiously.

"We're about to be…" His future self began before suddenly there was a loud roar that cut him off.

Large golem like creatures with gruesome like appearances with spikes appearing out of their backs and black runes all over their stone skin, then jumped out of the sky and landed all around them. They all grow furiously at the group of nine that they currently surrounded.

"What _are_ these things?" Past Toby questioned, a bit nervously.

"Sombra's pet monsters." Future Toby responded, annoyed. "Or _vermin_ is what I like to call them."

"I don't know… I think they look kinda cute!" Pinkie remarked.

"Only _you_ Pinkie…" Rainbow griped.

"Uh… they don't look too happy…" Applejack observed, looking as nervous as the younger version of Toby was.

"They rarely are." Future Spike stated, grimly.

"What do we do?" Fluttershy asked, backing away.

"We _fight_! Fight until all of these things are rubble!" Future Toby growled.

"Boy… I've became quite the strategist…" Past Toby remarked to his future self, sarcastically.

"He's right, there's too many." Twilight agreed.

"Come on Twi, have a little faith!" Rainbow Dash told her as she got ready. "We can take 'em!"

"Then let's do it!" Past Toby declared as he got ready.

"Guess it's useless to try to tell you to run… given your condition." Spike remarked.

"Oh I wouldn't miss this for anything." Toby smirked. "Besides, I've been itching to _hit_ something…"

"Your funeral." Future Spike muttered.

"Already had one." Young Toby retorted. "Now let's rock!"

Most of the others all charged toward Sombre's rock monsters, each yelling out a battle cry as they began to fight them using their own special talents and powers, while Fluttershy just stood still.

"Um… let's… _not?_" she suggested before Toby grabbed her tail and pulled her away from the attacking monster, which he blasted with a magic blast then teleported him and Fluttershy away before another one could grab them. They appeared somewhere else and Toby instantly felt a pain in his side.

"Toby!" Fluttershy cried.

"Oh yeah, I remember that pain…" Future Toby muttered as he blocked two rock monsters. Then his eyes glowed. "Dominus Liberia!"

A giant pulse wave was released from Toby's older self that knocked some of the rock monsters back before he disappeared. Spike noticed this.

"Hey! Where'd he go?" he asked his future self, who was breathing large amounts of fire at the creatures.

"Wait for it…" the giant dragon said.

Future Toby then appeared and quickly, with an energy whip now in his hand, preformed multiple consecutive martial arts moves on the rock monsters and by using his energy whip he knocked several of them back and sliced some in the half, all while not even touching the ground. When he finally did, the large amount of rock monsters that previously surrounded him crumbled to dust and he didn't look he had some anywhere close to breaking a sweat.

"Whoa! I _rock!_" Past Toby remarked, amazed.

"Yeah? Well watch this…" Future Toby said before he stomped on the ground with his foot and created a pulse wave beneath the earth that made everything and everypony jump and fall to the ground, except for him, though it also effected the good guys as well.

"Hey, watch it!" Applejack called out.

"Yeah, why don't you…" Rainbow began.

"Move!"

Older Toby quickly pushed her out of the way and smashed a rock monster that was coming up behind her.

Rainbow rubbed her sore shoulder. "Hey! What's the big idea!?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah… I don't think you've become a team player either…" Twilight muttered to Past Toby.

"Well a lot can happen in ten years…" Rarity pointed out then noticed Pinkie Pie riding one of the beast while yelling 'Wheeee!'. "Although I'm sure _this _timeline's Pinkie Pie and _our_ Pinkie are _exactly_ the same!"

"I conquer…" Toby agreed. They then began to hear loud 'cawing' noises from above. Everypony looked up and saw little specks in the sky which soon revealed themselves to be gigantic vultures with runes all over them.

"Vultures! Giant ones!" Twilight cried. "And their heading straight for us!"

"I thought vultures only feasted on _dead_ meat." Spike said.

"Tell _them_ that and run!" Toby cried as they all began to move away from the vultures.

"No! We stay!" The other Toby stated.

"Are you crazy! We need to get everypony else out of here!" Past Toby stated. "I can't let them get hurt!"

"Oh would you stop being over protective already!?" Rainbow complained.

"Hey _your_ always over protective of _me!_" Young Toby pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's because… I… I…" The Pegasus tried to say.

"You what?" Toby asked, not getting it as one of the Vultures got closer and closer to him.

"MOVE!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she pushed Toby out of the way, causing him to roll across the ground and allowed herself to be grabbed by the vulture.

"RAINBOW!" Toby shouted. He then tried to get up but his body was too weak to do much of anything. "Gah… it's no use… can't move…"

Toby then watched in horror as his friends were picked up one by one by a vulture.

"TWILIGHT! RARITY! PINKIE! FLUTTERSHY! AJ!" he screamed.

Spike tried to run as fast as he could but the last of the Vultures grabbed him with its claws and flew off along with the others.

"TOBY!" Spike yelled as he and the girls were carried off into the distance.

"No! SPIKE!" Toby cried. "This… wasn't… suppose… to happen…"

Future Toby then blasted away the rest of the rock creatures with another magic blast, then turned to his younger self who seemed to be having another anxiety attack. Toby's body was twitching uncontrollably. He couldn't do anything, but that was what got him. He never had a chance to rescue them to begin with. He slowly managed to lift himself to look toward the direction they flew off in.

The word that seldom pulsed through his mind since Discord's reign coursed through him. _Failure._ He had failed. He failed to protect his friends even though he swore he would, and on top of that, he failed to rescue them. Sombra his closest friends and family, and there was nothing he could do now to stop it.

Toby watched the ship fade from his view. In fury, he threw up his arms in defiance. "NNNNOOOOOO! No. No! NO! How could have I let this happen?" Toby screamed as he pounded the ground in frustration three time as tears streamed from his face. The full impact of his failure sunk in on him, and it appeared to be crushing him, both physically and emotionally as he lowered his sorrow filled face. "I failed them… all of them… I was suppose to protect them! I wasn't suppose to let anything happen to them… but a failed…"

"Hey, news flash; we both may be super powerful but we can't _always_ protect them, we can't save _everypony_." Future Toby told him, bluntly. "Trust me, I've been where you are and unless you get out of your own way and stop being a whiney _brat_,_ maybe_ you can get through this."

"_Maybe_." Future Spike added.

"Not helping." The other Toby told him, a bit annoyed.

"Not lying." Other Spike stated, as young Toby got back up.

"Quick, where are those things taking them?" he asked his older self, desperately. "You have to tell me!"

"Probably to Sombra." Future Toby said.

"Though they aren't gonna be there for long, King Sombra_ never_ keeps prisoners." Future Spike stated.

"But we're still going after them right?" Young Toby asked, desperately. "_Right?_ Come o I gotta save them!"

"_Wrong_. We're not gonna save them. We _can't_. They're going to Sombra's fortress, which is heavily guarded and with no way in. I know, I've _tried_… to many times. How do you think I lost Big Mac?" His older self said.

"Plus in case your completely _dense_ and didn't hear me… Sombra _doesn't_ keep prisoners." Big Spike stated. "Bearers of the elements of harmony or not… your guys are _dust_."

"Seriously? You'd leave them to _die!?"_ Past Toby questioned.

"No, I'm saying it's too dangerous, they're on their own now." Future Toby stated.

"Ugh! I can't believe you… I… would say something like!" The younger Toby exclaimed. "Leaving someone behind? That's not how heroes from _my_ time work!"

"Not trying to be a hero these days kid, just trying to survive." The older Toby said, firmly. "I'm pretty used to it, since I've been doing it ever since it started."

"We _both_ have." Future Spike added.

"That's right, since this started we've been surviving, everyone whose made it has. These days, stealing has become scavenger rights, the weak rule and _nopony_ can be trusted. _Nopony_ believes in friendship anymore." Older Toby stated, bluntly. "And neither do I…"

"I can't believe it… this future is so… so horrible!" Young Toby proclaimed.

"You'll get used to it." Future Spike told him.

"He's right." Future Toby agreed. "Besides, what can you do? It's the way it is."

"It's not the way it was! And it's the way it is in _my_ time!" His younger self exclaimed. "Ugh! I must have been an _idiot_ thinking staying away from my friends was a good idea! I was so _blind_. So caught up and absorbed my own problems and personal demons that was _blind_ to see just how much it was effecting everypony around me! Man! I'm such an idiot! If had just stopped whining and taken better care of myself I could have saved them! I could have done something!"

Toby then took another deep breath. "Ok… all done yelling at myself…" he muttered.

"Well at least your growing up." Future Toby remarked.

"Yeah… but not into _you_ if I have anything to say about it." Past Toby declared.

"Glad to hear it." Future Toby muttered.

"Look, we don't give up, remember? We _always_ find a way and right now the girls and Spike need us and if we give up, we'll just be doing Sombra and every other bad guy we've ever fought a _favor_." Toby told his older self. "Don't remember what being a hero is about? It's about giving hope to others and protecting those who can't fight for themselves! No one can make it out on their own. Not without _friends! _You still have Spike so that's a start, but if you _really_ want to make a difference, if you want _change_ how things are instead of just patching it, you can't be subtle, you have to give hope to others, get out of your own way and fight for a better tomorrow… a tomorrow full of _hope_."

"Hope… huh… that's something I haven't heard myself say in a while." Older Toby admitted.

"We'll I'm gonna start, especially after we make sure Sombre doesn't _kill_ my friends!" Toby declared. "Come on, help me! _Please_… just so I can help them…"

"But Toby… the future depends on…" Future Toby began.

"My future is _meaningless_ without them!" Young Toby snapped. "They've got my back and… I've got theirs."

Older Toby sighed. "Ok… this may be a _huge_ mistake… but I'll help," he said.

"I owe you… I… whatever… big time, ok?" Young Toby said, thankfully.

"Shocking right you do! But… maybe this might help me make for… everything I've done wrong…" His future self mused before turning to Spike's older self. "So how about it big guy? You in?"

"That depends… you have a plan?" Future Spike asked Young Toby.

"I'm working on." The young Toby stated.

"Well that's good to hear. So… _me_, what's the first step in your 'master plan'?" Future Toby asked.

The young Toby turned to his older self with a determined look on his face. "We bring back _your_ friends," he declared.

_To be continued..._

* * *

**Author's Note: This episode was partially inspired by the Young Justice episodes 'Salvage' and 'Bloodlines'.**

**Voices**

**Future Toby: Crispin Freeman**

**Future Spike: Dave Fenroy**


	2. The End of Friendship Part 2

**My Little Pony: The Human Chronicles**

**Episode 30: The End of Friendship Part 2**

**Recap:** Last time, after a whole six months of not seeing him, Spike and the Mane Six all go out looking for Toby who seemed to have fallen into a state of depression since the events that took place nearly one year ago. They attempted to talk him in to coming back home but he shrugs them all off and tries to leave but they are suddenly teleported to Equestria, ten years in the future, where Ponyville and everything else around them has been reduced to ruins. They also meet future versions of Toby and Spike who explain the current situation to them and who caused it; King Sombra. Future Toby then gives them a mission to fix all their mistakes to change the future for the better but before they can leave they all ambushed by Sombra's monsters and Spike and the girls are taken captive. After convincing his future self to help Toby comes up with a plan to save them that involves gathering up the disbanded Mane Six.

Toby panted and panted as he ran across the muddy ground as fast as he could, which wasn't nearly as fast as he used to be due to him being out of practice and his body still being weak.

As he ran, the lingering fear of being caught was all around him. Whether it was from above in the dark, gray sky or in the rocky ruins of the land and all the old towns that used to be there all though years ago. He was still in Equestria, though more specifically he was in Equestria's future, ten years to be precise and right now his only companions were his and Spike's future selves. Future Toby was ahead of him while Future Spike flew overhead.

"Come on, keep running! They can still find us!" Future Toby told him.

"Just what _are_ these thing anyway!?" Past Toby questioned.

"Remnants of Sombra's dark magical experiments." Future Spike said from above.

"Experiments?" Toby echoed. He looked back and saw, to his horror, grotesque animal creatures with large, throbbing veins, red eye and sharp teeth. They all looked like things out of horror movies and were gaining on them.

"Oh… those are _so_ creepy…" Toby muttered, disgusted.

"Just run!" His older self cried.

"Can't you figure out a way to slow them down!?" Past Toby questioned.

"I don't know… wait a minute… I can!" Future Toby realized. "Get behind me quick!"

Toby did so and his Future Self stopped and clapped his hands, causing his eyes to glow as he managed to raise an entire wall of rock out of the ground and block the creature's path. The cool part was that he made it look completely easy.

"Whoa!" Toby remarked, amazed, while Future Toby ran past him.

"That's not going to slow them down for long," he informed his past self. Toby looked and saw that the wall was already beginning to crack up due to all the monsters pounding it repeatedly.

"That's not gonna slow them down at all!" Toby remarked as he resumed running just as the monsters broke through, reducing the stone wall to rubble.

"Guess so." His older self remarked.

"Is there a way we can lose them?" Toby asked.

"I believe so, just head for the Everfree Forest!" Future Spike called out from above. "I shall meet you both there!"

"Affirmative!" Future Toby nodded as the giant dragon flew ahead of them while the two Toby's used their super speed to zoom ahead.

The two of them soon arrived at the entrance to the bony looking forest that was once called the Everfree Forest. They brush past all the claw like branches that were in their way and leapt over every fallen stump while Sombra's mutant animal army just plowed right through them all like they were nothing.

"They're gaining us!" Past Toby informed his Future Self.

I know they are!" Future Toby said, before one of them spewed a fire ball at them.

"Duck!" Future Spike cried, just before the two ducked lowered their heads while the fireball flew over them.

"I hate this!" Young Toby yelled.

"I know you do!" Older Toby said.

The two Toby's and the mutant creatures continued to race down the narrow pathway of the destroyed Everfree Forest.

"Ok… you can begin your wise and effective plan now!" Past Toby exclaimed as the beasts got closer and closer, so much so that he could almost feel them breathing down his neck, literally.

"Ready… set… now jump!" Future Toby cried as he and his younger counterpart both did a front flip which made them leap, fly through the air over a large log that was in their way and land on the other side of it on all fours. Then Older Toby stood up, held out his hands and his eyes glowed.

"Vitalis Eruptum!" he cried. Suddenly large black vines and roots emerge out of the ground and spread out while grabbing each of the mutant animals and hoisting them into the air, where they stopped moving and kept the mutants in place. They struggled but were ultimately finished once Spike flew up to them and turned them to ash with a fire blast. Toby was stunned while his older counterpart wiped his brow.

"Whew, that's the last of them for a while, but not for long," he said. "Come on, I know a place where we can lay low for a while.

Future Toby then began to walk away, it only took Past Toby a few seconds before he turned and began following his older self.

"Wait! …how did you know that would work?" Toby questioned.

"How would _what_ work?" His Future Self asked.

"That trap… the one you set for those creatures, how'd you know they would fall for it?" Past Toby asked again.

Future Toby simply answered, "Well.." and smirked, "That would be telling."

Toby grumbled, "You don't make it easy, do you?"

"You know me better than that." Future Toby said.

"Now follow me."Future Toby then began to lead his younger self away and further into the decaying forest and the further they went in the more it's depressing and dark vibe began to effect Young Toby's mind, almost convincing him that there really was no more hope left in the world.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the badlands of Future Equestria…

Floating above the barren landscape was a dark and gloomy castle surrounded by a thick black fog, suspended in mid air thanks to dark magic. It looked similar to the one Tirek inhabited but was much more menacing looking and partially covered in black crystals.

Inside the castle, the Mane Six and Spike were all locked inside small round cages with bars made of solid black crystals. They appeared to be in some kind of dark and creepy looking dungeon made entirely out of stone. Chains hung from the ceiling and the lighting was dim at best. Vultures also watched them from above.

Then Rainbow then began to pound and slam against the crystal bars that kept her restrained like a wild animal. She grunted in frustration each time she did so.

"Hey! Let us out!" Rainbow cried.

"Quit banging around!" The giant vulture snapped. "Your gonna scratch up your cage bars!"

"I hope I do!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"Not helping much Rainbow!" Applejack told her.

"I'm trying to get us out!" Rainbow stated.

"Really? Because you haven't really made a dent." Pinkie observed. Rainbow's glare quickly made her shut up.

"I'm sure there's a way out… isn't there?" Fluttershy asked, timidly.

"There'd better be! All this confined space is just _ruining _my complexion!" Rarity proclaimed, dramatically.

"Twilight, _is_ there a way out?" Spike inquired to the unicorn, hopefully.

"Sorry everypony, these bars are made of dark magical crystals; no matter what we do they won't break," she despaired. "It's hopeless…"

"How right you are, my dear," he familiar voice whispered in the dark. They all turned and saw somepony stepping out of the pitch black shadows. His red horn, black mane and evil eyes stuck out the most and everypony, besides Twilight, shuddered when they first saw him.

"Sombra!" Twilight exclaimed.

"You _dare_ speak to your King in that tone, knave!?" Sombra growled.

"Ha! Your now _our_ ruler pal! And guess what? You never will be! Got that?" Rainbow questioned, loudly.

Sombra's eyes narrowed. "You _will_ suffer for your prudence little one… you _all_ will! I promise you!"

"You're a meanie, you know that? A meanie!" Pinkie said, frowning.

"Oh, if you think I'm bad _now_, you're going to be really impressed once I figure out how I should deal with the you six…" Sombra hissed as he walked over and stroked Twilight's face, making her shudder. "You are going to be a part of something _beautiful_."

"Hey! Don't touch her!" Spike cried, angrily.

"Silence!" Sombra snapped as he blasted Spike with his dark magic, making him drop to his knees.

"Spikey-wikey!" Rarity cried, alarmed.

Applejack growled. "This isn't over, ya hear!?" she told him.

"That's right, your plan will fail! Toby will…" Twilight began.

"… Not be joining us." Sombra interrupted. "Not with your lives on the line. Far too risky for a good boy like him, and his older self is too much of a coward to stop _me_."

"Yeah? Well your be surprised at the ricks Toby will take." Rainbow Dash said, icily.

"That's right!" Fluttershy added. "He'll be here! And you can't stop that!"

Sombra then started laughing manically, which disturbed everypony greatly. "Ha! One does not just _get inside_ MY castle! It's hopeless!" he declared. "Face it everypony; it's too late to save your friend or yourselves!

Sombra continued to laughing evilly while the others slowly began to feel the despair overwhelm them all.

* * *

Elsewhere, Toby and his Future self were both inside a small, wooden cabin surrounded by dead and black looking trees. Inside the cabin were various objects that looked to be souvenirs that Future Toby had collected for the past ten years, several different kinds of spell books and some weights.

"Wow… you gathered all of this while you were on the run?" Young Toby questioned in awe as he looked around.

"Yes and… _don't_ touch anything." Old Toby told him just before Toby could grab an old spear.

"So what now?" Past Toby asked as he walked over to his future self.

"Not sure… Sombra's forces will be looking for us no doubt…" Future Toby mused. "We'll have to wait awhile before they lose interest and continue searching for somepony else… if we're lucky…"

"Lucky… yeah that's the word I'd use to describe us." Toby remarked, very sarcastically.

"I'll say." Future Spike added, from outside the window.

"Hey, I know you've had it rough but…" Past Toby began.

"But nothing! You don't know what it's been like here." Future Toby snapped as he continued to get things organized.

"Your right, I don't, but that doesn't mean we should quit and hide." Toby stated.

"Oh?" His older self questioned.

"You _really_ believe that we have a chance against _Sombra?_" Future Spike questioned. "The guy who _rules_ this place?"

"Yeah, I do. Look, I'm telling you; if we want to get out of this alive and save _my_ friend, we need help from _your_ friends." Toby told his future self. "I'm talking the future versions of Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, AJ, Fluttershy AND Rainbow!"

"They're not the ponies they used to be, or the ponies you _think_ they still are…" Future Toby said.

"No, they're _good_, always have, always _will_." Toby insisted.

"How could I be so naïve...?" Older Toby muttered, dismayed.

"And did _I_ get so uptight… and _hopeless_?" Toby countered. "Look I know how much being despair sucks…"

"You have no idea…" His older self shook his head.

"I think I _do_! At least I had enough _back bone_ to back up from it." Past Toby frowned. "Or don't you remember?"

"That was _different_! The world I loved wasn't in _ruins!_" Future Toby stated, frustrated. "Sombra… he took the things that mean the most to me."

"Maybe you should have fought _harder_ for them!" Young Toby stated.

"I _did_ fight!" Future Toby growled. "But it wasn't enough… there was nothing I can do!"

"Only because you didn't have the girls backing you up!" Toby stated. "To win we need _all_ of their help! Rainbow, Applejack, Twilight, all of them! If we don't unite now… Sombra _will_ kill their present day counterparts and their future selves won't exist anymore! And if they don't exist and time rewrites itself to accommodate to those changes like you said… this could actually look more worse than it already is! Do you want that? Huh? Do ya?"

"Look even if I wanted to call the others, it's a tall order…" Future Toby stated. "Besides… between you and me… I'm not really sure I can do it."

"Why? I thought you said you would!" Toby pointed out. "I thought you were going to go along with my plan!"

"I was… until I realized that bringing everypony back is a lost cause." His future self retorted.

"_Why_? What happened between you all that was so bad anyway?" Young Toby questioned.

"Let's just say I made a mistake… focused on the big picture. A big picture made out of even littler pictures…" Old Toby mused. "Hard to see the big picture behind a pile of corpses…"

"Whoa… I need to lighten up a smidge…" Toby muttered.

"No. I _don't_. Those days are over." His older self stated.

"Well, what _I'm_ over is being a hero if _this_ is how I turn out!" Past Toby snapped. "I am such a _jerk!"_

"Hey! If you say the same things as we have _you'd_ feel the same way!" Future Toby shot back, looking angry.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I know for a fact that _my_ Spike doesn't roast other beings alive!" Toby growled at Future Spike

" You do not know what war _is_, do you boy?" Future Spike questioned, greatly annoyed. "I did what I had to do!"

"Yeah, that's a _great_ excuse!" Toby remarked, sarcastically.

"Hey, I don't expect you to understand!" His older self stated. "But since this is _your_ future… someday you _will_."

"No! I don't want your suffering. I don't want your future!" Toby shouted.

"Neither do I!" Older Toby shouted back.

"Then why won't you _do_ something about it?" Younger Toby inquired.

"Listen, I've watched a lot of folks die… _friends_… I don't want to go through that again." Future Toby stated.

"So you'd turn your back on your friends, your family, innocent lives?" Toby questioned, incredulously.

"If it meant I could survive another day, yes!" His future self said, firmly.

"Looks I was right, you're no hero! You're a coward!" Toby growled. "You were suppose to protect them!"

"I _tried!_" Future Toby shouted

"Not enough! Not even close!" Toby stated.

"You'll learn soon enough. Being _me_ isn't at all… 'fun'." Future Toby stated to his younger self.

"Yeah, no doubt about _that_." Past Toby grumbled. "Especially since _you_ always want to run away when people are in trouble! Which I bet you've been doing since Sombra took over, haven't you!?

"It was the only way to stay alive, to live to fight another day." Future Toby said. "I don't care about the world the way it is right now and I don't care about saving your skin. I just want to make that lousy king _pay_ for what he did to me."

Future Toby then punched a hole in the wall and scratched a hand carved picture of Sombra close by.

"Yeah, real noble. Oh wait, you didn't try to help my friends, you didn't try to save them as they were being taken away. You could have helped but you _didn't!_ You _didn't care!_" Toby snapped at his future self. "And in a supreme act of selfishness, lost to a crusty old relic like rank amateur! Allowed the world to be turned into a living hell moments away from destruction and _Sombra's_ the villain? No. He's not the bad guy here _you_ are!"

"Shut up kid." Future Toby spat out as he turned to his younger self with tears streaming down his face. "Not another word…"

A shocked looked appeared on the younger Toby's face, while a look of sympathy and sadness appeared on the now giant version of Spike as the older Toby continued to cry, knowing full well that his younger self was right and that he truly was acting like a dirty coward.

"Your words cut deep… deeper than any blade…" Future Toby mused. "You were right… I was too scared… too ashamed of my failures to face them… to face Sombra head on… I could have fixed this… but I let that opportunity slip through my finger tips. I'm no hero. I really am just a coward."

Toby watched his older self walk over to the corner of the cabin and then sigh as he rested his head and arm against the wall to sulk. Toby exchanged glances with Future Spike and slowly approached his future self.

"Look I know you're in a bad place right now… but I know you can get through this. You can't let several little failures and one big failure ruin the rest of your life. I know you won't let this beat you. I know because it isn't in_ me_. And you _are_ me." Toby told his older self, and in a strange way himself as well.

"Am I?" Future Toby questioned.

"Yes, you are, and unless you get your act together we're all done for!" Toby said. "At least you were able to get over learning the truth about… who we really are… somehow. Meanwhile I'm still…"

"We get it, you're a freak." Future Toby said a bit annoyed as he turned around and walked over to his younger self. "But you're not the only freak around here and I do remember very well how tough it was realizing what I really was. But I gave up on thinking that a long time ago. _That's_ how I was able to get over it.

"That's not the only thing you 'gave up'." Toby growled.

"I know." His older self admitted, as he put a hand on his shoulder. "And it's high time I started _fixing_ it. Wouldn't you say?"

"So… you'll go along with plan?" Toby asked, hopefully. "About finding the others?"

"I know I will." Future Spike stated.

"Really?" The eighteen-year old asked.

"Yes, you were right about him, and about me as well." The dragon said. "All these years… fighting to breath… to survive… have been wasted. We spent so long focusing on survival that we forgot who we used to be."

Toby turned to his Future Self. "And you? Will _you_ help?"

"Yeah, I will." Future Toby confirmed, which made Past Toby smile. "This… is all my fault. I messed up pretty big all those years ago and… I guess I've been messing up ever since… I'm ready to make things right. But like I said; it's a tall order."

"But there is _one _pony who can still help us…" Future Spike pointed out. "You know that."

"Oh no, we are not asking _her_." Future Toby stated, shaking his hand and putting his hands up in defense.

"Who?" Past Toby asked.

"I know you think she's loony but…" Older Spike started.

"But nothing! She _is_ a lunatic! Especially after what happened to…" Older Toby began to say.

"Uh, excuse me! Whose 'she'?" Toby inquired.

"Sweetie Belle." Toby's future self replied.

"Sweetie Belle?" Past Toby echoed.

"Yeah… see a couple of years after Sombra took over, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both gave their lives protecting Sweetie Belle, it did a number on her psyche and now she's in her own personal loony bin." Future Toby said.

"Wow…" Past Toby said, slowly. "But… she can still contact the others for us? Bring the gang back together?"

"In theory, but that will depend on what kind of mood she is in." Future Spike stated.

"What do you mean?" Young Toby inquired.

"She put herself in that place for a _reason_." Older Toby said, firmly. "And you'll soon find out _why_… that is… if you still want contacts the others and go through with this little suicide mission."

Toby paused for answering. "When do we leave?" he asked.

"We just did." His Future Self replied as he began to walk away.

* * *

Later, both Toby's were walking along a balcony in a broken-down building. At the far end, a single candlestick flickered and threw its inadequate light onto a steel door. Future Toby turned the knob and opened the door. The room inside was pure white, with no features of any kind visible. In the far corner, wearing a white cloak with the hood up, a small figure stood with its back facing them and its head bowed.

"Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle it's me Toby." Future Toby said.

The white-cloaked figure did not turn from the corner; the voice was Sweetie Belle's, but sounded as if the past ten years have broken her mind and body entirely.

"No such thing," she said.

Past Toby stepped forward. "Sweetie Belle please, we…"

"Just another figment. Don't even look." Future Sweetie Belle muttered to herself.

"Listen to me!" Past Toby said. "I just need to know…"

"I'm never coming back! Go away!" The now crazed Sweetie Belle exclaimed, suddenly furious. She half-walks, half-floated to another corner of the room. "It has to go away. Just like before. Just like all the others."

"Your mind…" Toby said, slowly. "After losing your friends you must have…"

As he was about to touch her back, a shield popped up to block him and he yelped.

"See? I told you; she nuts!" Future Toby stated.

"She needs _friends_." Toby said, firmly.

Toby continued to look at his older self firmly before he sighed. "Your right… she does." Future Toby admitted.

Toby then looked Sweetie Belle in the eyes. "Look Sweetie, I know things have been difficult lately and I'm sorry about that," he began. "But that doesn't mean you're crazy alright? Your just lonely..."

"No I'm not. I am crazy. And don't tell me I'm not again." Future Sweetie Belle stated.

"Okay. Fine. You're _way_ crazy But that doesn't mean you have to stay locked in this room. You may think you're alone, Sweetie Belle, but you're _not_. You still have _me_ AND your sister." Toby told her, sincerely.

Future Sweetie raised her eyes after this and turned to him. "Really?" she asked.

Toby nodded. "Really."

Future Sweetie Belle turned around fully and walked over to him, the bags on her eyes were shown fully and he could see under her hood that her mane was a mess. She then caught him by surprise with a hug that brought to mind the image of a drowning man clutching a thrown rope for dear life. After several seconds, he hugged her back.

"Listen Sweetie Belle, I know it may not seem like it right now, but everything's gonna be alright. I promise." Toby assured her, sincerely.

"Pinkie Pie Promise?" Future Sweetie Bell asked, hopefully.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly…" Toby smiled.

"Stick a cupcake in my eye." Future Toby finished.

Older Sweetie Bell smiled. "Thanks."

"Good. Now we need a favor; can you contact the rest of the gang for us and tell them to meet us in the center of town?" Past Toby asked her.

"I think so." Sweetie nodded as she used her magic to conjure up a quill and scroll and began writing various things done.

"You sure you'll be able to convince them to help?" Future Toby whispered to his future self.

"I don't know… but I have hope." Young Toby said, with a smile.

* * *

Later, Toby, Future Spike and his older self were all standing around the center of the destroyed Ponyville waiting for the others to arrive and most of them began to look impatient.

"Ugh, it's been _two hours_, where are they?" Spike growled.

"Calm down, would ya?" Toby told them. "At least we have been ambushed."

"I wonder if they even got the message… or if they are even coming…" Future Toby said.

"Oh, they'll come." Past Toby said.

"And how would _you_ know?" Older Spike questioned.

"Call it a feeling, plus… can't you hear it?" Toby asked.

"Hear what?" His older self asked before he and Future Spike began to hear a certain sound coming towards them.

"The wind…" Young Toby breathed.

A figure then zoomed past them and skidded across the ground in a somewhat shaky manner, but whoever it was still left rainbow colored flames behind. Toby looked and saw that it was Rainbow's future self.

Future Rainbow now had some wrinkles under eyes and a scar below her right eye, a bandana around her forehead and her mane was slicked up and unkempt to a degree. She also wore black boots on each hoof and one of her wings looked weaker than the other and missing a few feathers.

"Rainbow…?" Toby breathed, shocked seeing his friend in such a state.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Future Rainbow demanded to Future Toby in a scratchy voice, before turning to his past self. "And send _him_ back. _Now_!"

"Can't do that Rainbow… not yet." Future Toby stated. "There's a situation at the moment that we need to take care of first."

"Whose _we_?" Future Rainbow Dash inquired, suspiciously. "Didn't me and the others tell you; we never wanted to see you again!"

"I know but…" Older Toby began before his younger self suddenly spoke up.

"Rainbow… is that _you_?" Toby asked, still shocked.

"Yeah? What of it?" Future Rainbow

"Wow… you got old…" Toby remarked.

"Sure, rub it in why don't cha?" Future Rainbow said, sourly.

"Uh… sorry." Toby apologized.

"Now what do you _want_?" Future Rainbow questioned, impatiently.

"I'll explain once everypony is here." Future Toby replied.

"_Everypony_?" Future Rainbow echoed.

"I think he means us."

Everypony turned and saw what appeared to be the Future version of Applejack approaching from behind.

Future Applejack now had bags under her eyes, her mane was messy and unkempt and part of it was covering the left side of her face. She wore an earring on her left ear while the other ear seemed to be missing. She wore a black and white armored shirt and two leather boots on her front hooves.

"Applejack!?" Past Toby exclaimed, shocked.

"Hey, AJ." Future Toby said, casually.

"Toby? Sweetie Belle's message didn't say anything about _you_." Future Applejack said, before her eyes narrowed even more. "You _know_ I hate being lied too."

"I know Applejack, but this is important." Older Toby said.

"So important that you used a very dangerous _time spell_ to bring _him_ here?" Older Applejack demanded, gesturing to Past Toby.

"Something like that, yeah." Future Toby nodded.

"You guys want to stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Past Toby inquired.

Future Applejack just snorted, annoyed. "Whatever. Now why are we here?" she asked.

"Like I told Rainbow here, once everyone is here." Older Toby stated. "Is Rarity still with you?"

"Not for a while now but…" Future Applejack began before a large rock tumbled backwards and crashed into the ground. They all turned and saw what appeared to be the future version of Rarity standing on top of it.

Future Rarity had multiple scars on her formerly beautiful face as well as on her cutie mark and her mane was completely messy and far from the way it used to look like before and looking closely as her mouth it anypony could see that she was missing a few teeth. She wore long black boots on her legs and a chain mail vest.

"Are you all talking about _me_?" she asked.

"Rarity!? At least I _hope_ it's Rarity…" Toby expressed.

"Why of _course_ it's' me! Who else!?" Future Rarity snapped, flickering her messy mane at him.

"Next ten years are pretty hard on her." Future Toby told his younger self. "Bottom line; they have _not_ been kind."

"I'm right here. I CAN HEAR YOU!" Rarity's future self proclaimed, very annoyed.

"We know." Toby's future self responded casually.

"But wait… where's Pinkie and Fluttershy?" Past Toby asked.

"Oh, yeah should be here soon… although you'll wish they _hadn't_." Future Rarity promised. Before Toby could comment on it, he heard something behind him again.

"Well, well, well…"

Past Toby turned around and saw a familiar face standing close by, on top of a large piece of rock. He saw that it was the future version of Pinkie looking down on all of them.

Future Pinkie's mane and tail were completely straight and not at all poufy like they usually were, she had multiple scars on her face and like Applejack she was missing an ear, except it was her right and not left. She wore a gray outfit, with black and white socks on her hind hooves, a chain necklace and had a permanent scowl.

"All this time I've been planning on how I was gonna take the fight to _you_," she continued. "And here you are; inviting me over and wrapping yourself up like a present."

"Pinkie?" Past Toby asked, surprised.

"Beware…" Future Pinkie whispered in a chilling tone before leaping towards him with a look to kill in her eye. But before Toby could do anything Future Toby grabbed her with one hand and kept her held up in the air with zero effort.

"That's _enough_, Pinkie!" Future Toby ordered.

"You don't tell me what to do!" Future Pinkie snapped.

"I said that's enough! We're not here to fight!" Older Toby stated.

"Oh yeah? Tell that to _her_." Older Pinkie said, gesturing to another pony leaping out of the shadows and landing in a prone position. Toby looked closely and saw that it was the Future version of Fluttershy, much to his shock.

Future Fluttershy's mane was completely wild and part of her tail seemed to have been cut off, she had extra long eye slashes and a scar below her left eye. She wore a gray outfit with multiple tears in it as well as little twigs caught in the material and like Rainbow parts of her wings were missing some feather as well. She growled at them like an animal.

"Fluttershy!? Man I don't even want to _know_ what happened to _you_." Past Toby said.

"Yeah… for the next ten years the wild side has _not_ agreed with her." Future Toby shook his head. "Barely any intelligence left…"

"Hey…" Fluttershy growled, annoyed.

"Alright human, we're all here, now what. Do. You. WANT?" Future Rainbow demanded.

"Yeah and make it snappy while _these two_ are still in control." Future Applejack added, gesturing to the still angry looking Fluttershy and Rarity.

"Look, I brought my our younger selves here to show them the future and how to change it." Future Toby explained.

"So that we can end this reign of terror… before it ever begins." Future Spike continued.

"What!?" Older Rarity questioned.

"But that's _crazy!_" Future Rainbow Dash proclaimed.

"But it _worked_." Older Toby stated.

"But unfortunately _your_ younger selves got captured by Sombra and we're gonna go rescue them." Younger Toby added. "We could use a little help, that's why we called you all here."

"What!?" Future Pinkie exclaimed.

"Impossible!" Fluttershy growled.

"Indeed, King Sombra's castle is surrounded by an army of rock monsters." Rarity stated.

"And mutant monsters." Applejack added.

"Not to mention all the vultures flying through the sky!" Future Rainbow pointed out.

"You can't even get inside to fight him, and even if you could you couldn't beat him." Applejack said. "His dark magic is stronger than ever."

"It can't be done." Future Pinkie stated.

"It's hopeless." Future Rarity added.

"Completely." Future Fluttershy nodded. Toby frowned at his friends new demeanors.

"I don't know what happened to you guys, but the ponies I know never thought anything was _ever_ hopeless!" Toby exclaimed. "We can _do_ this… _together!_"

"How? We've fought so many battles over the years… and yet… _none_ of them like this." Rainbow's older self said. "And every time we try, we always lose."

"Because we didn't work as a team." Future Toby pointed out. "The question we have to ask ourselves is; are we destined to destroy each other? Or can we change who we are and unite? Is the future truly set in stone? What do you say we find out?"

The future versions of the Mane Six, minus Twilight's, all exchange glances and eventually both Toby's hopeful words managed to get through to each of them and made them crack a smile.

"Alright Toby, we'll do it one more time, but please, tell me we got a fighting chance this time." Applejack said.

"Well I hope so." Past Toby confessed. "I've been working on a plan. Now what do we have in the way of gear? I mean do we have any weapons, pieces of armor… anything?"

"I think I have some stuff in mind." Future Toby said.

"Good, that's a start." Past Toby stated. "Do you guys have the Elements of Harmony?"

"The elements!? They got wasted _years_ ago." Future Rainbow said.

"Good, we don't need them." Toby stated.

"Huh?" Everypony said at once.

"Just trust me on this. Come on." Past Toby told them as he walked ahead.

"Wow… hard to believe you were ever that naïve…" Future Applejack remarked.

"More like _hopeful_." Future Toby corrected.

"Yeah, well it's pretty much gonna get shredded after this." Future Pinkie grumbled.

Future Toby sighed solemnly. "Yes… that may very well be the case… but until then… we _fight_," he said in a determined tone.

* * *

Later, back at Future Toby's old cabin warehouse, Future Toby had just pressed a button on a wooden cupboard and suddenly a long stack of weapons rolled out and revealed themselves to both Toby's.

Toby gazed at the weapons that were in front of him wide eyed while his future self got ready in a corner.. They appear to be rows of gun-like weapons that resembled sub-machine guns called Heckler & Koch MP5K's only they seemed to be a bit modified and didn't look like they shot bullets.

"Wow… these look like those… sub-machine guns from back home!" Past Toby marveled.

"Yeah, you'd be surprised what you can put together with a few spare parts." Future Toby said.

"I'll say…" Past Toby agreed.

"So… you came up with this whole rescue plan on top of your head?" Older Toby questioned.

"Yeah… I got a big head…" Younger Toby shook his noggin.

"Huh… kinda wish I had thought of it first…" Future Toby admitted.

"Technically… you did." Toby pointed out. "Remember? Time travel?"

"Oh yeah… man that stuff makes my brain hurt…" His older stuff said.

"Tell me about it…" Past Toby agreed. He then held his head in pain. "Ok… headache developing here!"

"Yeah, I'm right there with you…" Future Toby said, rubbing his head as all the time travel knowledge and confusing verb tenses all swirled around in his and his younger selves cranium's.

"Hey, almost forgot, what about Future Twilight?" Past Toby asked. "Aren't we going to go ask her for help?"

"Yeah… that's a bit complicated…" Future Toby stated as he continued to get ready. He clearly didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it at all.

"Why? She couldn't be even more bitter then you and the others." Young Toby said.

"It's not that…" Old Toby told him.

"Then what is it?" Toby inquired to his future self.

"Let's just say if she could help us, she would, but she _can't_, so leave it at that, ok?" His older self stated, firmly.

"Ok then…" Past Toby said, slowly.

"Not to worry, we have more than enough manpower… or rather… girl power to help us bash right through Sombra's defense's and get in, should this plan of yours work." Future Toby said.

"It _will_ work." Young Toby stated. "So… you about done back there?"

"Just about." Future Toby said as he finished putting on whatever he was putting on in the corner. "Alright, check it out."

Toby turned around and saw that his Future Self was now wearing a form fitting black, long-sleeved shirt underneath a dark blue armored vest, dark blue elbow pads and gloves, a black belt with a gold buckle, blue cargo pants with gold knee pads and dark blue boots.

"What do you think?" he asked his younger self.

Past Toby shrugged. "It's ok. Kinda prefer my usual clothes but a uniform would be too-too bad…" he admitted.

"Thank you." Future Toby nodded. "Now are we ready to strike?"

"We're always ready!" Toby smiled, which his Future Self returned.

* * *

At the same time, Sombra had just returned to the dungeon where Spike and the rest of the girls laid trapped. They all glared angrily at him as he approached them all.

"Well ladies and gentle dragon... I hate to inform you of this but... the end is nigh." King Sombra told them, evilly.

"No…still… hope." Twilight said.

"False. 'Hope' is a delusion. Nothing more." The evil king stated.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do? Torture us!?" Rainbow challenged him.

"Rainbow!" Twilight scolded.

"Don't give him any ideas!" Spike added.

"Oh, but you _will_ be tortured... but not of your bodies... but of your _souls_." Sombra stated. "There are still more beings out there that dare try to challenge me. One by one I will gather them and end their existences as painfully as I can. You can all watch me torture every living being that comes through this door. And finally... when you have all known true despair... when our world is in _ashes_... then you have my permission to die."

Hearing this instantly freaked Fluttershy out and she quickly began screaming. "Toby! Help Toby!" she yelled.

"Ha! Your friend is nowhere..."

"Egerentes Dæmonium!"

Suddenly a large, golden demon like creature emerged from the ground, creating large cracks all over the place while letting loose a loud roar which hurt everypony's ears and shook the very foundations of the castle.

"What is this!?" King Sombra exclaimed.

The demon soon faded and standing in its place were the future versions of Spike, Toby, the girls, minus Twilight and Future Toby's younger self, much to the surprise of everypony there.

"Happy Birthday!" Older Pinkie announced, loudly.

"Can his royal highness Sombra come out and play?" Young Toby questioned.

"Hey! Rhyme!" Young Pinkie realized.

"Toby!" Spike cried.

"And… _other_ Toby." Rainbow continued.

"And… _us?" _Applejack added, a bit confused.

"What are _we_ doing here? I mean they… I mean… Gah!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"We may need therapy after this…" Fluttershy admitted.

"Your idea actually worked kid; tunneling under and getting in through the bottom, brilliant!" Future Toby remarked.

"Told you it would work, no one ever suspects an underground attack." The young boy said. Toby then stepped forward. "Hey! Sombra! Remember me?"

"Yes. I know who you are. Prince Toby Morrison, son of Princess, also known as Prince Crimson Dawn, the most dangerous out of you little specks. For _you_ inspired them all. You're an idealistic fool, just like your mother." King Sombra said to Toby. "And like Princess Celestia, _you_ Tobias… will be the first to fall!"

Toby's eyes narrowed. Then he noticed that his Future Self, who had snuck away when Sombra began ranting. He then spell on the cage that kept his friends locked up was beginning to work. One by one the black crystals broke into pieces.

"Not today, Sombra!" Toby stated.

"Hey! Rhyme! Again!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "Boy, there sure was a lot of rhyming today."

"Who cares!? Just get' em!" Rainbow cried as she burst out of her cage, along with the others. They all charged towards Sombra.

"Come on! Let's show them what we 'insects' are made of!" Future Toby declared.

"Right!" The Mane Six's future selves all cried as they charged towards Sombra also.

"Get them!" Sombra as his mini army of rock monsters, mutant animals and vultures charged toward them also. Pretty soon a large battle erupted in the middle of the castle with explosions going off left right.

The Applejack's used their apple bucking skills to smash some rock monsters, Rainbow and her older self sliced through them with their wings, Pinkie and her older self bounced and smashed some easily, Rarity and her future self used their combat skills to hold them off while Spike and Fluttershy hung back while their Future selves did most of the work via breathing green flames and tearing them apart while fighting alongside the two Toby's who were fighting in perfect sync.

"You seem to be much stronger then you appear…" Sombra

"What can I say? They've got my back and… " Toby began before backhanding a rock monster and making it shatter. "I've got theirs. And _that's_ where I get my strength from; them!"

Future Toby then appeared and landed on one of the rock monsters. "Got that right, kid!" he said. "Hey, watch this!"

Future Toby then took out his two modified, sub-machine guns and as the creatures charged towards him he begins to run all around them all while firing plasma bolts from his blaster guns, each hit reduced a creature to ash. They swung their claws and gnashed their teeth at him but every time they tried he would just flip, jump and spin through the air as he continued to shoot rapid fire plasma blasts.

One tries to smash him with a long rock but before it could Future Toby jumped and landed on it once it hit the ground, blasted the mutant monster with an energy blast and stretched out his arms to pull and spin himself toward it like a ball before knocking it into a wall via kicking it with both legs.

"Teewat Ligara!" Future Toby cried as his hand glowed with his usual blue magical aura as he suddenly created a twister that attacked all of the stone monsters in their way.

"Yeah! I'm already feeling like a kid again!" Future Toby exclaimed.

"And I'm feeling like a filly again!" Future Applejack remarked.

"Yeah, baby we still got it!" Future Rainbow cried.

"Indeed!" Future Rarity nodded.

"Oh yeah!" Future Pinkie cried, pumping her hoof into the air. Fluttershy barked in agreement.

"Keep at it! We're pushing them back!" Twilight cried.

"Oh no you don't!" Sombra yelled as he fired a massive blast of dark magic that caused black crystals to grow out of the ground and head straight for them.

"Contigo!" Future Toby yelled as he put up a shield in front of his younger self and the others which deflected Sombra's dark magic like a mirror and made it strike a nearby rock till it was reduced to pieces.

"Wow! When did you learn all these spells!?" Past Toby remarked.

"You'd amazed how much free time you have when the world ends." His future self stated.

"MORRISION!" They heard Sombra cry out. They turned and saw him stomp over to them. "You _dare_ attempt to overthrow _me_? DO YOU!?"

"Just give it up Sombra! You've lost!" Toby told him.

"Hardly I can see your _fear_… I can see your _doubt_. Your _agony_. It's _delicious_!" King Sombra said. "I will _enjoy_ absorbing it all… just as much as I enjoyed your mothers!"

"Hate my mother that much huh?" Toby remarked.

"Oh, you have no idea… she ended my reign thousands of years ago and then her meddling student Twilight did the same as well! But now neither of them are threat to me anymore and now I shall have the pleasure of finally wiping out the one thing she loved most in this world besides her precious sister; her son! You will now taste the eternal hatred I felt for so long and then you will die!"

Sombra then used his magic to blow a strong gust of wind in their direction that knocked almost everypony off their hooves and caused the rest to be pushed back, except for Toby, who just kept moving forward, much to the surprise of the king.

"I am not the same kind of royal figure as my mother Sombra! For my rage is greater!" Toby growled as he shot a strong energy bolt at Sombra who easily deflected it.

"And it seems you are just as foolish," he sneered. "Tell me boy; do you really think you can keep your friends safe? Ha! Your mere presence puts them in danger! Allow me to demonstrate!"

His eyes then glowed red. Sparks cracked out of his eyes and envelop all six of the girls; yells of pain and red flashes accompany the captured. Rainbow and Fluttershy's wings were all damaged a bit during the process.

"No! Stop it! STOP IT!" Toby begged. "Please! Don't hurt them!"

"No boy… I won't stop… I am only just beginning! See what your per sense has caused them!" King Sombra bellowed. "If you want to protect them all so much… then protect them against _this_!"

Sombra then shot all six of them upward and through the roof of the castle, causing bits to rain down. Then when they were just seven thousand feet in the air Sombra caused them all to come falling down, with their two flyers unable to fly and no way of stopping.

"NO!" Toby yelled as he super leaped upward towards the six falling ponies. Once he got close enough he shifted into his half-pony form, grabbed each of them via magically stretching his arms and holding them tight then wrapped his large red wings around them as they continued to drop towards the battlefield below them. They hit a couple of stone pillars on the way down, Toby grunted in pain each time they did and eventually they crash landed on the ground, with Toby taking most of the damage. Everypony else turned to them.

"TWILIGHT! TOBY! RARITY! GIRLS!" Spike cried as he rushed over to make sure they were ok.

"Man… that crazy kid! What was he thinking?!" Future Rainbow exclaimed.

"He was thinking about making sure they weren't hurt… something I seemed to have failed you guys in." Future Toby admitted, sadly. "And I'm sorry…"

The future versions of the rest of the girls all shared shocked looks and stared at each other sadly. No doubt ashamed by what they have allowed themselves to become by not protecting one another.

"Don't worry about it, sugercube…" Future Applejack muttered.

At the same time, Spike rushed over to the girls just as they began to regain consciousness and shrug Toby's stretched out limbs off of them. They all groaned and rubbed their heads with theirs.

"Hey, are you guys ok?" he asked.

"I… I think so…" Twilight confirmed.

"Whew! _That_ was ride." Applejack remarked.

"One I do _not_ want to go on _again!_" Rarity remarked.

"But what about…" Fluttershy began before she and the others quickly noticed Toby's unconscious body in the middle of the crater they were all in.

"TOBY!" They all cried out in panic.

"Toby…? Are… you ok?" Rainbow asked, worriedly. "Speak to us!"

Toby then let out a low groan and a mumble.

"Uh… what was that? We could hear you?" Pinkie said, leaning close.

"Get off of me…" he finally spat out. They all then removed their front hooves off of his chest, quickly.

"Sorry!" They all said, allowing Toby to get back up and face Sombra again, who just sneered at them.

"How pathetic, you waste your time and energy saving those foolish mortals." Sombra snarled.

"My friends are never a waste of time." Toby stated, he then readied himself. "Your move!"

"You _really_ think you can beat me in your current state? You've tried to fight it. But you know it in your soul. Your nothing more than a broken tool. A rusted trap." Sombra told him, pitifully and mockingly. "Your just a broken soul… who doesn't even realize he's already _broken_."

Toby growled with each word he said. "Rot in the sack!" he hissed. Future Toby then noticed his younger self's aura was beginning to glow bright red so immediately grabbed him and caught his attention.

"Toby, listen to me!" His future self told him. "Your anger is a sign of immaturity. Sombra will_ feed_ on that and destroy the _both of us_. Then we'll both see our mother's again in the afterlife… you understand what I'm saying.

"Yeah… you mean I'd be dead right?" Younger Toby asked.

"Yes." Future Toby replied, bluntly. "When I first fought Sombra all those years ago I too was angry… and it was because of my stubbornness and stupidity that I lost… but that won't happen again! Not today!"

"_You_ have a plan this time?" Past Toby inquired.

"Yeah, I think I know a way to beat him now… but I need a lot of magical power!" Future Toby said, as he turned to his younger self. "I need _your_ power!"

"_Me?_ But I can't…" Toby said, slowly.

"Yes, you _can_. It's an energy siphon counter spell; Combibo Potentia, but we have to do it at the exact same time, ok?" His older self said.

Young Toby gulped and smiled. "Ok!" he said.

Both Toby's stood together as Sombra growled like an angry dog ready to sink his fags into them as his dark magic started to glow.

"This is it Sombra! We have all had _enough_ of your reign!" Older Toby declared.

Sombra growled again. "Not until you lay dead at my feet," he said as his horn glowed brightly while both Toby's stood ready to make their move.

"Ready?" Future Toby asked.

"Ready!" Past Toby confirmed, as he and his older self, both clapped their hands.

"Combibo Potentia!" The two Toby's yelled as they raised their arms into the air while two beams of blue magical energy shot out and zipped through the air before flying straight for Sombra who fired a beam of pure dark energy at them. Both attacked collided and seemed to be evenly matched as they went back and forth constantly until finally with a greatly deal of effort the two Toby's managed to push their beam's all the way and cause Sombra to feel the full impact of their attack as well as his own. He screamed as the attacks slammed into him and sent him flying across the room and right through the stone wall.

"We did it! I mean _I_ did it! I mean…" Past Toby began.

"Same thing." Future Toby smiled. They then noticed Sombra bursting through the wall and panting feverishly, he looked greatly injured but he was still alive.

"Just you wait fools… once my body has been fully healed… I shall claim my vengeance! Especially on _you_! TOBY MORRISON!" King Sombra roared

"Oh you don't have to worry about that Sombra, because I'm coming you." Past Toby promised. He then looked to the others and smiled. "And uh… I'm gonna be bringing a few of my friends."

The black unicorn growled "_This isn't over_!" Sombra's shadow yelled before it trailed off as it got further and further away from the area.

"Looks to me like it _is!"_ Rainbow yelled back imitating his fading voice.

"I'll say… and technically I did." Future Rainbow added.

"Hardly, he just ran off to lick his wounds, but he'll be back." Future Toby stated.

"That's right… as long as Sombra's alive… we're still under his control." Future Pinkie said, solemnly.

"Man… this world… this future… it's a nightmare." Past Toby expressed.

"No kidding…" Spike agreed.

"It _was _a nightmare Tobias. But thanks to you and your friends… you gave us hope… you gave us back our future." Future Rarity told him.

"And if you manage to succeed, we might actually have a nice future to look forward too!" Future Applejack added.

"Now _that's_ a statement I can get behind!" Applejack stated with a smile. "Or… _we_ or… Gah! Future Toby was right, all this time travel junk makes those verb tenses all screwy!"

"Uh-huh." Future Fluttershy nodded with a animal like grunt.

"Oh my… I _definitely_ don't want to become like this." Fluttershy voiced.

"Agreed, from now on I shall do better to keep my beauty looking _proper_." Rarity stated to her future self who scowled a bit.

"And that'll definitely happen Rare… just as long as little me here changes the past _and_ the future… for the better." Future Toby said.

"But wait… if I change the future then you… this version of _me_ won't exist anymore!" Toby realized.

There was a pause before Future Toby spoke. "_Nothing_ would make me happier," he honestly said.

"Ok then…" Toby said, slowly.

"Hey wait, where's _my_ future self?" Twilight realized. "Where's Future Twilight?"

"Busy, I guess." Toby shrugged.

"It's a long story… but I'll tell when you're ready." Toby's older self told her.

"Alright…" Twilight said, slowly.

"It was an honor to fight alongside you hatching." Future Spike said.

"Thanks... that means a lot coming from me... you." Spike said, with a smile, which his older self returned.

Rainbow then approached her older self. "So… any advice for the future? Like… am I gonna join the Wonderbolts!?" she asked, excited.

Future Rainbow frowned a bit. "No. I won't tell you that much but…" she said as her voice trailed off. Future Rainbow then looked away, as she confessed to her past self, "Do yourself a favor: Don't be so proud all the time. You'll lose him forever, okay? Even a pony as awesome as us can still find that one thing everypony needs."

"Him? I don't…" Past Rainbow began to say, nervously as she blushed.

"You're afraid… I remember." Future Rainbow mused. "Look Rainbow… I know your Toby can be super annoying at times… but enjoy him while you can."

Rainbow looked a bit confused and concerned by what her future self said but made no note of it and let her older self walk away.

"Oh, I'll miss you future me!" Pinkie said as she continued to hug her future self. "Except by tomorrow I'll also met and become future then gradually as time goes by I'll become older, grayer and more frowny but I'll still get to become and meet future me again! Isn't that great? Aren't you happy? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"Ugh, will you stop being so happy and talkative all the time? It's getting on my nerves especially." Future Pinkie grumbled. Everypony from the past stared at Pinkie's future self bewildered and disturbed.

"Man… this is _not_ the world we know…" Toby remarked.

"You have _no_ _idea_." Future Toby said. "Now… time to get you all home."

"Cool." Past Toby nodded.

Toby, the girls and Spike then all gathered together while Future Toby began to draw the same diagram into the ground that he used to first go into the past around them using a broken black crystal he found lying around.

"Well… it was nice seeing… _me_ again." Older Toby said, looking up at his younger self with a small smile.

"Yeah… me too. Just remember… me… there's always hope. No matter what!" Toby told his older self.

"Right back at ya! Thanks for making me remember that again…" Future Toby said.

"Not a problem." Young Toby nodded.

"And… thank you." Toby's Future self muttered. He closed his eyes, extended both of his arms then clapped his hands together. His eyes then opened up with a bluish glow. "Quis quandum era maflictus, iem feachus mas redentegero, quis venit pro mas mesquam essei!"

Then the lines in the circle around him began to glow as well and the triangular portal appeared over them.

"Ok, it's open!" Future Rainbow Dash reminded them. "Toe! Get your younger self's cute little rear in gear and seal that portal in the next two minutes! Pronto!"

Future Toby gave her a quick but small smile then turned to his younger self.

"A little advice before you go; if you want to find _true_ happiness find your own little spitfire, one that won't let you get away with nothing." Future Toby advised him.

"Like who?" Past Toby asked before his Future self suddenly snapped his fingers and caused the portal to suck them all up without a second thought. A silent wind blows by them all.

"Well… that would be telling." Future Toby smirked.

* * *

Later, back in Present Day Equestria the blue triangle suddenly opened up in the sky again and Toby and the others then dropped out of it and landed on the ground in a pile.

"Everypony ok?" Twilight asked. They all responded with a quick 'yes' or 'yeah'

Rainbow's eyes widen. "Ok, whose touching me there!?"

Toby held up his hand. "Sorry!"

They then all got up and began to bask in the beauty that was their home. Celestia's sun was shining, the birds were singing and not they could barely believe that in the future, all of it would be gone.

"Well, it sure is good to be back home." Applejack sighed.

"Uh-huh!" Pinkie nodded.

"Absolutely!" Rarity agreed.

"Yeah… I sure have missed this place." Toby mused. "The people of Earth would be surprised to know how much this place really grows on you."

"I'll bet!" Spike nodded.

"Well now that we _are_ back home, there's a little matter then we need to attend to." Twilight said.

"Right, gotta figure out this list…" Toby said, solemnly as he looked at the piece of paper his future self gave him.

"Not quite, Red…" Rainbow said as Twilight used her magic to create and levitate several items into his hands.

"Huh? A wash cloth? Scissors? And how long to sleep?" Toby said, looking at the items. "I don't get it."

Spike and the girls all raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ooh… now I get it…" The human realized. The Rarity grabbed him.

"Come now darling, we have a great amount of work to do," she told him as she began to drag him away, much to his displeasure. But as they proceeded away, the events of what occurred in the future and what he saw continued to flash in his mind and his eyes narrowed sharply as he continued to let them play in his head.

* * *

The next day, Spike and the girls were all approaching Toby's tree house, hoping to see a now clean shaven and healthy looking Toby, and hopefully to celebrate his return to Ponyville.

"Toby! Are you in there?" Twilight called out.

"Coming!" They heard him call out.

Toby then stepped out of his house and leaped off the deck where he landed in front of the girls with his now clean shaven face. His hair has also become very short and somewhat spiky. He also has regained his lean yet muscular build

Toby now wore a black buttoned, pocketed T-shirt with black jeans, black shoes and a black belt. On his back was a stylized sun similar to Celestia's Cutie Mark.

The others all gazed at him wide eyed as he approached them with a now serious look on his face.

"Hey, guys," he said.

"Toby?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yeah, it's me." Toby nodded. "Managed to get my hair and beard cut. Plus you'd be amazed how fast I can build my muscles back up."

Rainbow scanned Toby up and down and observed his new choice of clothing more closely.

"Black… that's a new color on you." Rainbow remarked. "But all in all… you look great."

"Thanks." Toby said.

"So… what's with the new outfit anyway?" Spike questioned.

"Just felt it was time for a change." Toby reasoned. "And I now I wear the symbol of family to remind myself that I have a different destiny. From now on, no more fooling around. Until this crisis is over, we're gonna have to play this a lot more seriously. That means no pranks, no disturbances, no interruptions."

The girls all exchange glances after hearing Toby's now serious tone of voice.

"Toby… you sure your ok?" Applejack asked.

Toby put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry AJ, I'm perfectly fine. There's nothing to worry about," he assured her. "Just trying another way."

"Another way?" Twilight echoed.

"What other way? Does it involve candy?" Pinkie questioned.

"No. It involves trying to avoid a fight as much as possible and making sure the future is safe form Sombra." Toby stated. "You saw what it was like there, I won't let that happen _here_."

"Wow… I've never seen you so serious before…" Fluttershy remarked.

"People change." Toby said. He smiles a small smile. "But don't worry, I'll always be there for you girls. Always."

"Well… that's good to know." Fluttershy smiled, comforted it.

"Yeah, and we'll always try to be there for you, sugercube." Applejack added.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from all of you." Toby nodded.

"Yeah! We're _unexpected!_" Pinkie Pie said, making funny little poses.

"Jeez… where's our _off_ switch?" Toby remarked, in a deadpan tone.

"Well at least he still has his sense of humor…" Spike said to Twilight.

"I guess…" Twilight admitted. "But what about your hat? We rarely see you without it."

"I figure I don't need to put it on just yet… not until I've earned it." Toby stated.

"Earned it?" The lavender unicorn echoed.

"Earned it _how_ sugarcube?" Applejack questioned.

"I'll figure it out. Now, first order of business is locating Sombra and finding out just how he got back to life." Toby said. "We take him out…"

"And the bad future is gone!" Spike finished.

"Exactly." Toby nodded.

"So… when do we start?" Rainbow Dash asked, before a loud roar was heard in the distance that caught the attention of everypony.

"We just did." Toby stated.

"Another dragon?" Spike asked.

"What else?" Toby said, bluntly. "Stay here, I'll try to lure it away."

As Toby began to walk away, the girls and Spike all stared at him surprised, Pinkie even did a double take, due to how shocked she was.

"Lure it away?" Rainbow echoed, surprised "You're not gonna fight it?"

"I told you; I'm trying another way." Toby reminded them, sternly. "No more fighting unless I absolutely have to, _that_ is my new code."

The girls all look at each other surprised. Never in a million years would they have believed that Toby was going to take a more peaceful approach to fighting. Toby then looked toward to where the source of the roaring was coming from. He sighed deeply.

"It's good to be back." Toby said with a small smile before he zipped off at super human speed and into the forest where the roaring was coming from. He had a very serious look on his face and his eyes glowed with an icy blue glow, which seemed to match his new personality.

"Well.. business as usual…" Twilight Sparkle mused with a smile as she and the other continued to watch Toby go off. Some of them exchanged worried looks with each other, no doubt disturbed by Toby's new attitude but did not comment on it further and began wondering what else fate had in store for them.

* * *

Elsewhere, in the barrenness that was the badlands something was happening. At first there was nopony there at all, until however, a seemingly translucent image of Sombra appeared in the middle of it all. His horned glowed brightly and suddenly, a bunch of black crystals, along with a large red one, which were attracted to it like a magnet, joined together. They all spun around and around and glowed brightly before, in a flash, they took on the form of _another_ King Sombra, in the flesh this time.

"Well hello… old friend." Future Sombra said to the other Sombra.

"Your late." Present Sombra said.

"My apologizes… the boy's future self was more of a challenge then I had previously though, as were the other versions of them…" Future Sombra admitted. "But _now_ it doesn't seem like that will be a problem anymore."

"So… business as usual." The other Sombra smirked, evilly.

His future self also smirked evilly. "Let the Time War… begin!" he declared as both of their eyes start glowing with dark magic before laughing manically as their darkness slowly began to spread out like an out of control wildfire until the whole place they were standing in was shrouded in complete darkness.


	3. In Search of Answers

**My Little Pony: The Human Chronicles**

**Episode 31: In Search of Answers**

**Recap:** Last time, Toby and the gang meet Toby and Spike's grim future selves who give them instructions on how to stop their terrible future from every happening. But pretty soon, the girls and Spike are captured by King Sombra's forces and after some convincing Future Tobu and Spike agree to help Young Toby save them, plus with the help of the now institutionalized Sweetie Belle they manage to gather the future versions of the Mane Six, aside from Twilight, who was absent for some reason, and after some convincing also they agree to help. After arming themselves the group stormed Sombra's castle and rescued the others while also driving Sombra away. Then after returning to the future and cleaning up his act, Toby gains a new outfit and decides to take a more serious and peaceful approach to dealing with the situation, much to everypony's worry. But unknown to them, outside forces plot against them and the great Time War begins to unveil.

It was another peaceful and quiet day in Ponyville and at the moment, while everypony on the ground either shopped, talked or walked around with happy thoughts in their heads, all the Pegasi ponies in the sky were busy moving the clouds out of the way so that they could all have a nice sunny day, including Rainbow Dash.

As she continued to work on the sky, much to her displeasure and annoyance, most of the others were walking through town and watching her.

"Looking good up there, Rainbow!" Twilight called out.

"Thanks, though I wish we could have kept today looking partially cloudy, I have a ton of new Daring Do books to check out," The cyan Pegasus complained.

"Oh, stop your whining Rainbow and don't deny that your whining, trust me, I know whining." Rarity stated.

"Yeah, we've _all_ heard _you_ whine." Applejack smirked, which made Rarity scowl a bit. Pinkie then took a deep breath and inhaled all the good air.

"Ah! What day!" Pinkie expressed. "What a life!"

"Yeah? Well it would be if I didn't have to spend all day moving clouds…" Rainbow grumbled as she continued to push away a cloud.

"What did I say about whining?" Rarity told her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Rainbow grumbled.

"Isn't it such a great day, everypony?" Pinkie Pie asked, happily.

"It sure is! Although I wish Toby were here to enjoy it." Spike admitted.

"Yeah, me too." Fluttershy agreed.

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Applejack wondered. "He was supposed to help me buck some apples like always, but when I arrived they had all been knocked down and he was long gone.

"The same thing happened with me and my new dresses." Rarity said. "I expect them to arrive, they show up, but he's not there!"

"Is he avoiding us or something?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Oh no! I hope we didn't do anything wrong!" Pinkie despaired.

"Twilight? Any ideas?" Spiked asked the unicorn.

"I don't know… he's just been so _serious_ and distance lately." Twilight Sparkle said. "It's been hard to know what he's thinking. But I'm guessing his experiences with his Future Self and Sombra really affected him."

"I'll say, we _still_ hardly much of 'em!" Applejack stated.

"He says he's keeping his distance in order to… 'keep us safe'." Rainbow explained, clearly not sounding happy about it.

"But I don't want to be safe! I want Toby!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Yeah, well that goes for _all_ of us." Rainbow told her. "You know he's so much less fun now? All he does is observe and brood in the shadows!"

"Well _that's_ no fun!" Pinkie Pie stated.

"Indeed!" Rarity agreed.

"Well look on the bright side; he still has his sense of humor." Spike pointed out.

"Yeah, that's… good, right?" Fluttershy asked, meekly.

"Maybe, but he's still not the same Toby!" Rainbow expressed.

"He's been through a lot Rainbow, we should just give him some time." Twilight said to her.

"Alright Twi, but I'm thinking that the Toby we lost… may not really be the one we brought back." Applejack voiced.

Twilight sighed. "Yeah… you just might be right…"

"Speaking of which… where is the last place any of you saw Tobias, anyway?" Rarity wondered.

Fluttershy shrugged. "I don't know."

"I don't know either." Pinkie before zipping off and coming back with a large cake. "But I do have cake! Want some?

"No…" Everypony said at once.

"Suit yourselves!" Pinkie said as she dug right in.

"So… should we go looking for him?" Applejack wondered.

"I'll go! I can spot him easily from the sky, he may be avoiding us but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to be around us permanently." Rainbow stated.

"Well… ok, good luck, we'll try to find him on our end." Twilight told her. The Pegasus nodded and flew off.

"You don't think that boy has left town again, do you?" Rarity wondered.

"Nah, Toby would never do that… right?" Spike asked, hopefully.

The others all had uncertain looks on their faces, aside from Rainbow, who had a look of determination of her's as she continued to fly.

* * *

Meanwhile, close by them, on a large, flat rock in the middle of a lake, Toby was sitting on top of it in a cross-legged position with a peaceful look on his face. He appeared be mediating. Nearby him, a single, little drop of water dripped from the edge of a long daffodil leaf.

Toby breathed deeply as he spoke. "Inner peace… inner peace…" he said, before hearing the sound of somepony yelling 'whoa' before tripping and falling. He groaned. "Inner peace…"

Rainbow then appeared, panting. "Hey, Toby! What do you want to do say? Fight some pirates? Take down some vandals? Whatever it is, I will totally take them down! Cause I'm in like a _mood_. I need to like get something done, you know what I mean?"

Toby just continued to concentrate, much to her confusion.

"Uhhh… what are you _doing_?" Rainbow asked Toby.

"Focusing my Chi." Toby said as he continued to meditate.

"Your _Chi_?" Rainbow Dash echoed.

"Chi is the life force that flows through every living thing in the universe." Toby explained. "Maybe if you were a little more open to focusing_ your_ own energy, you wouldn't be so impatient and angry all the time."

"Hey!" The Pegasus protested. "I'm not _always_ impatient and angry!"

"_Are_ you?" Toby said raising a brow. This caused Rainbow's eyes to widen. "Thought so. Watch this."

Toby takes a hand full of water, throws it into the air and as it rained down on him he saw a droplet falling down. When the droplet touched down, Toby began to do some moves and caught the droplet. He then guided the droplet through his arms then finally dropped back into the water. Rainbow look excited just at the sight of the water droplet.

"Woah! Awesome! How... did you... _do that_?" Rainbow questioned, completely dumbfounded and shocked.

Toby smiled a tiny bit. "Inner peace."

"Inner peace? Inner piece of what?" Rainbow asked, confused.

"Of mind." Toby answered. "I've been trying to maintain it since we got back from the future."

"Uh… why?" Rainbow asked.

"Person reasons." The red-head stated. "As you know I have bit of a temper. This helps control it."

"So… it's gonna be harder to make you mad and stuff?" Rainbow questioned, getting a little too close to him, which disturbed him to a degree but he did his best to stay calm and stay still.

"Exactly," he finally said.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Rainbow Dash said, sounding unconvinced that the whole thing would even work. "So… you want to hang out sometime."

"Not now." The human said.

"Aw, come on! Please?" Rainbow asked again.

Toby then sighed deeply. "What do you want, RD?" he asked, calmly.

"To talk to you." Rainbow Dash. "We_ all_ want to talk to you."

"All?" Toby echoed before he began to notice Twilight, Spike, Pinkie and all the others approaching from behind as well.

"Hi, Toby!" Pinkie waved.

"I came here to be _alone_." Toy stated, a bit annoyed.

"That's not very fun." Pinkie Pie remarked.

"I should know…" Fluttershy admitted.

"Toe, don't you think your over doing this whole 'new approach' of yours?" Applejack questioned.

"Why do you think that?" Toby wondered.

"Well darling, you've been avoiding us for over a week now and we are starting to get worried." Rarity told him.

"I am fine." Toby stated.

"Uh… you spent a whole year hating yourself… your wearing all black and now you have the personality of a stump. You have a very loose definition of 'fine'." Rainbow told him.

Toby sighed. "Girls, I know my methods may be unorthodox but they are all to protect you."

"And we're telling you that we don't _need_ protection! We need _you_!" Rainbow Dash stated.

"That's right." Twilight nodded. Applejack nodded in agreement.

"Besides, it's not like anything dangerous is going to happen today, things have been most peaceful as of late." Rarity stated. Then suddenly Spike burped up a fireball which turned into a scroll that landed in his claws.

"A letter from Celestia?" Toby questioned.

"Who else?" Spike asked as he handed Toby the letter.

"Thank you." Toby said, politely as he opened the scroll and began reading it. Everypony then gathered around him closely, somewhat invading his personal space.

"What's it say Toe?" Rainbow questioned.

"I'd think I'd have a better time reading it if you weren't all crowding me…" Toby muttered, annoyed.

"Sorry!" They all said, apologetically as they immediately backed away.

"Thank you." Toby said, politely once more before he began to read. "_Dear Toby, I understand that you wish to know more about Sombra and how to defeat him and I think I know just the place where you can start looking for answers of your own. As you know, the ancient castle that I once shared with Princess Luna lies mostly in ruins, deep in the Everfree Forest. But if you look carefully, you may find a book that could prove helpful to your research, hidden somewhere in what's left of the castle library. Sincerely, Princess Celestia_.That's all there is."

"The Castle of the Two Sisters..." Twilight mused.

"You know that place?" Toby questioned.

"Yeah! Sure we do! It's where we first got the Elements of Harmony." Rainbow Dash stated.

"Not a very pleasant place I might add." Rarity said. "Although I have heard rumors that it's filled with the most gorgeous of ancient tapestries in all of pony history! It pains me to think of those magnificent creations rotting away in those old ruins, totally unappreciated."

"And it also sounds like the right place to get some answers, apparently." Applejack added.

"Guess I'd better get going then." Toby said, as he got up and began to proceed toward the Everfree Forest before a certain Cyan blue Pegasus dropped down and blocked his path.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! If _you're_ going, we're going _with_ you! Right, girls?" Rainbow Dash asked the others, who also nodded in agreement. Spike then cleared his throat loudly. "Uh… and Spike."

"Thank you." The baby dragon said, gratefully.

"No, I won't allow that." Toby told them, much to their disappointment.

"What!? Why not?!" Rainbow

"Celestia's and Luna's old caste is said to be very dangerous and tricky and I won't risk your lives on the chance that some of it's more dangerous looking booby traps might still be active." Toby stated.

Pinkie then giggled. "You just said…"

"Pinkie Pie! Do not even _think_ of finishing that sentence!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Sorry…" Pinkie Pie apologized.

"Toby, I know your worried about us and you _think_ keeping us at hooves length will keep us safe, but you can't stop us from following you, we're your _friends_ and we always will be." Twilight said, firmly.

"But I'm telling you guys the place might be dangerous, you're not safe around me… and there is no talking you guys out this is there?" Toby asked.

"Nope!" Pinkie Pie responded, shaking her head.

Toby sighed. "Fine. If you want to come go ahead, I won't stop you."

"Then by all means, lead the way." Rarity offered.

Toby nodded and began to lead everypony straight towards the Everfree Forest where the castle was said to dwell.

Unknown to any of them, as they continued to move forward a mysterious shadow watched them from a more darker corner of the area and slowly took the form of a familiar, red horned unicorn known as King Sombra himself. He smiled, baring his fangs and licking his lips with an evil and hungry look in his eye.

"So… the boy and his friends are on their way to the castle… just as my counterpart predicted. This is should be _easy_." Sombra mused. Then he began to think once a certain thought popped into his mind. "But what if this boy already knows what me and my future counterpart are plotting and is trying to stop it! No! I will not allow him to foil my plans! Today… I shall eliminate them myself… one… by one."

Sombra then took on his black cloud like form and began to swiftly follow Toby and the others toward the Everfree Forest like a hungry vulture about to sneak up on its unsuspecting prey.

* * *

Later, Toby, Spike and the girls soon arrived at the castle that Princess Celestia and Luna used to live in a thousand years prior to the great 'Celestia-Luna Rift'. It stood before them all looking abandoned and dilapidated since much of it was destroyed by Nightmare Moon all those years ago. Toby pushed the two giant, wooden doors open and they all step inside, the creepiness of the place was thorough.

"So… this is Celestia and Aunt Luna's old Castle…" Toby said, looking around the destroyed interior of the castle. "I could live here."

"Really?" Twilight questioned, surprised as they proceeded forward.

"Well I am a Prince, so eventually I'll need my own castle when Celestia asks me to take her and Luna's place, not that I'm in hurry for it, that is." Toby stated. "Plus this isn't being used anymore so…"

"You have a very twisted taste…" Rainbow remarked, looking at all the cobwebs everywhere.

"I'm well aware of that." Toby said.

"They say it hasn't been fixed since Princess Celestia battled Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago." Fluttershy said.

"Lazy much?" Toby remarked.

"Most ponies are pretty scared of it." Spike said. "And the forest in general."

"Well, aside from Zecora, everything in that forest is dangerous so it's really not that surprising." Toby said. "Plus the odds of finding something other than _her_ that's friendly in this forest or pretty… low."

"Ugh, you just _had_ to bring math into this, didn't cha?" Applejack complained.

"Math… the enemy of all things good." Spike griped. Twilight rolled her eyes at this.

"You know, when was just a filly, Granny Smith told me of an ancient legend about this place." Applejack added. "A legend that made this place even scarier for ponies to enter."

"What legend?" Toby asked.

"Well, they say when Nightmare Moon was banished, not every last bit of her dark magic went with her. Granny used to tell me that when night falls on the castle, that magic takes the form of... _the Pony of Shadows_!" Applejack said, dramatically as she told her story.

"You mean, like a ghost?" Rainbow Dash echoed.

"Nopony knows!" Applejack said in a spooky manner.

"Ugh." Toby said, annoyed. "What is this? An investigation or a horror movie?"

Pinkie gasped. "Maybe it's both!" she exclaimed.

"Guys, it's just an old pony's tale, it's made up!" Twilight told them.

"Exactly, now let's quit gabbing and get moving." Toby told them as they moved on ahead, while Sombra's shadow slithered under the door and entered the establishment with a wicked grin on his dark face.

"Horror eh? I will show them what _real_ horror looks like!" Sombra declared as his eyes and horn start glowing as he started to create a large, shadowy monster which roared loudly, though none of the others noticed it.

* * *

Elsewhere, Toby, now carrying a flashlight, lead the others through the castle till they reached what appeared to be the throne room, although it was still in ruins and rubble littered the floor. Near the place where their used to be two thrones, two tapestries hung above them. One was yellow and had an image of the sun while the other was blue and had an image of the moon. Both look a bit tattered and dusty. Rarity's eyes widen.

"Oh my! Look at this tapestry! It's simply divine! I simply _must_ try to fix it!" Rarity said as she zoomed over towards them. Toby sighed and did a face palm while the fashionista attempted to use her magic to pull off one of the tapestry. "Almost there…"

Then suddenly a clicking sound was heard and pretty soon the whole wall spun around and around like a top until Rarity was thrown off it, screaming. Fluttershy managed to catch her though.

"Goodness! Are you ok?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes… I must have… activated a secret door…" Rarity said, groggy. "But I still will try to restore it! As soon as the room stops spinning anyways…"

"Hey! Quit messing around!" Toby told her sternly. "We gotta keep moving."

"What's the rush Toby?" Twilight asked.

"Every time we stick around a place too long, there's always the possibility that something will attack us." Toby stated.

"Why do you always think things are gonna end in disaster?" Rainbow questioned.

"Years of experience." Toby said.

"You've only been here for a year and a half!" The pegasus pointed out.

"Two years if you count the time I spent here when I first arrived." Toby pointed out.

"So… you're not scared of this place?" Fluttershy asked, nervously.

"No. I don't scare easily anymore." Toby said. "And neither should you. Try to be brave."

Fluttershy sighed. "Ok…" she said.

Then they all began to hear a rustling noise coming from the shadows, this made it easy for Fluttershy to freak out and grab onto Toby.

"What is it? A thief? A thug? A monster? Has it come for us!?" Fluttershy exclaimed as she clung onto Toby for dear life. Then after a few short moments, whatever was making the strange noises came out and revealed itself to a small, cute looking mouse, which made Fluttershy gasp and caused Toby's face to fall.

"Stay calm… it can probably smell fear." Toby warned her in a deadpan tone.

"Do you think so?" Fluttershy asked, nervously.

"NO!" Toby proclaimed. "It's just a mouse!"

"Cool it, Toe!" Rainbow told him. "Remember, Fluttershy is _shy_ for a reason."

"I know, but still; we're not gonna find _any_ answers for how to deal with Sombra if we keep being jumpy." Toby stated.

"That's right, there's nothing to be scared of in this place." Applejack agreed.

"Except the pony of shadows…" Spike shook in fear.

Twilight then comforted him. "Oh, that's just an old pony's tale," she said. "It's not real."

A inhuman like roar then traveled through the hallways and reached the part of the castle Toby and the others were in, which caught them all by surprise when they heard it first hoof.

"What was _that_?" Rarity proclaimed.

"_Real_. Whatever it is." Toby said. "Let's turn on some more light, shall we?"

Rarity and Twilight lit up their horns and brightened up the dark corridor.

"Ok, now that we have light we can keep going without any other further distractions." Toby stated.

A clawed hand then appeared and reached out to touch his shoulder. Giving it only a raised eyebrow, he said nothing else as the girls all yelped; now he smiled a bit.

"Okay, Spike, you got us." Toby said as he brushed the clawed hand off. "Good one. Although I'm not in the mood for laughing.

The six onlookers remained stock-still as Spike leaned then appeared next to them.

"Uh...dude?" he said, nervously.

Now both of the boy's eyebrows are all the way up as he turned his attention back toward the source of that touch. Everypony glanced up at the hooded figure wearing a gruesome looking hockey mask. He seemed to be eight ft tall and was growling in an animal like manner. It rips away the garments to show all of itself: dark brown skin, a centipede like lower half, six arms consisting of one being skeletal, one being clawed and furry, other with a chainsaw attached to it, one with a hoof attached, one with blade like claws and another that resembled a giant lobster arm, it also had little bug like claws coming from its chest and bat-like wings and goblin ears plus tentacles coming from its back. It backs up and let loose primal roar; the group stared it, their feet nailed to the floor with terror.

It lunged for them with its clawed hand but Toby leapt forward, enlarged his hand and smacked it in the face hard, making it back away.

"Ok gruesome, I guess you don't feel like talking this out." Toby said as his eyes glowed brightly. "And frankly… neither am I!"

Now the thing smiled broadly from all its mouths, but its mood became sour when Toby stared firing bolts of energy at it. It soon deflected one attack before snaking a tentacle up and seizing him.

"Hey!" Rainbow cried as she jumped in to wrestle with the monster. Applejack also rushed in to give the twosome backup but was seized, as were the others when they all tried to help. They all struggled with the monster for a while before it suddenly disappeared without any warning and left the seven friends tumbling to the floor in a heap. Suddenly Rarity squealed.

"Somepony's claws are my posterior!" she yelled.

Spike then sat up wide-eyed. "Heh… my bad," he said as the others all straightened up as well. They were thoroughly bewildered by this turn of events.

"There _was_ a monster here, right?" Toby asked.

"But where did it _go_?" Twilight wondered.

"And from where did it come?" Fluttershy added, rubbing her left foreleg.

"Hel-lo? Isn't it obvious? The castle is _cursed_! By coming in, we must have opened a portal to another dimension. A monster came through the portal, now it's gonna to hunt us down and eat us! And I'm probably delicious!" Pinkie exclaimed. Everypony else just stared at her, they are all having trouble swallowing even one bit of Pinkie's theory.

"Or…" Toby said.

"Sombra must have sent it after us." Twilight declared, making Fluttershy gasp.

"You mean… it's finally alive in the present?" Rainbow asked.

"Well if he's alive in the future then it's safe to say that is alive _now_… for whatever reason that is." Applejack said.

"We need to find that library AND stop that… whatever it was. Let's split up and search the castle." Twilight ordered. Everypony, but Toby, scattered. Then the eighteen-year old himself managed to drag them all back together, forcefully.

"Split up? What do you think this is? Scooby Doo?" Toby questioned. They look at him oddly. "It's a show back in my world. Anyway, have you not seen a horror movie? When you split up, the monster hunts you down one at a time, starting with the comic relief."

"Comic relief?" Pinkie echoed before gasping sharply jumping onto Twilight. "That's ME!"

"Get a grip, Pinkie! The shadow pony or… whoever it is… is not going to get anybody." Twilight told her as she struggled to get her friend off of her back.

"She's right. There's nothing to be afraid of." Toby added.

A violent lightning strike threw its glare over him and made everypony face the holes in the castle for the next bolt. As they do, Sombra continued to watch them in his shadow form.

"You'd think so…" he whispered before sinking back into the darkness from whence he came.

* * *

A few minutes later, Toby and the gang continued to make their way through the castle, only more cautiously this time . The light shining from Toby's hand and Twilight and Rarity's horns marked their approach from around a corner, and the lead the gang along the passage. Spike brought up the rear and keeps looking back the way they came.

"See anything?" Toby asked.

"Nothing… just… shadows…" Applejack responded.

"Any sign of the monster?" Twilight added.

"I dare not open my eyes to find out…" Fluttershy whimpered as they proceeded further, and as she mentioned she had her eyes closed the whole time they were walking.

"Now I'm _really_ getting sick to my stomach right now…" Spike groaned. "Even more so then when I eat all the ice cream."

As they proceeded down the hallway, Toby continued to glance at all the creepy paintings and statues that filled the hall.

"Geez… who was Celestia and Aunt Luna's interior decorator? The grim reaper?" Toby questioned. "Because if they were _trying_ to make sure their castle scared anypony that came in… they succeeded."

"Equestria was very different a thousand years ago." Twilight explained.

"Indeed, did you know that they even wore _bell bottoms_? Ugh! What _were_ they thinking?" Rarity questioned.

"Oh I know the answer to that… nothing." Toby stated.

"Hmm, probably." Rarity admitted with a shrug.

Toby continued to lead them on, his steps illuminated by both the flashlight and both of the unicorn's glowing horns. Then someone with glowing red eyes, runs by them causing the girls to shriek.

"What is it?" Toby asked, annoyed.

"The floor! We saw something!" Fluttershy said.

"I didn't." Spike shrugged.

"Come on, you scaredy cats, would you relax? There's nothing to be afraid of. Now let's get moving." Toby said, as he pressed toward.

"Hey! What did you call me you… you… you…" Rainbow started to say.

"Doofus?" Applejack suggested.

"Thank you." Rainbow said gratefully before turning her attention to Toby and yelling. "You DOOFUS!"

"Ooh, rush me to the burn unit." Toby said, sarcastically. "And stay close, I don't want to lose you guys to a trap door and never find you again."

"What?" Fluttershy asked, afraid.

"Never mind…" Toby said, quickly. "Forget I said anything. But don't worry Fluttershy, I'll keep you safe."

"Yeah, you've been doing a lot of that…" Rainbow Dash grumbled.

"What was that?" The human asked.

"Nothing." Rainbow stated.

"Good, then keep moving." Toby ordered as they continued to walk ahead and soon found themselves in a hallway lined with torch wall-mounts shaped like pony legs, which freaked everypony, aside from Toby, out a bit. "Or not…"

"No need to panic everypony," he assured them.

"Yeah… nothing to worry about… just a creepy hallway full of disembodied pony legs…" Rainbow muttered, a little bit nervous.

"Right… so… what is this place exactly?" Applejack asked

"The hall of hooves…" Twilight mused as they began to proceed forward.

"Geez… whose sick idea was _this_?" Toby remarked, looking at the pony legs.

"Maybe Luna's?" Spike guessed.

"Possible, she is a Goth." Toby admitted.

"I do have to admit, the name is a bit on the nose…" Rarity said.

"And it is unpleasant when you really think about it…" Fluttershy added. "Who know what could be lurking here…?"

"Hmm..." Toby grunted. The girls all stopped and turned to him.

"What is it Toby?" Twilight asked.

"This is usually the part where the monster attacks again." Toby observed.

"Ugh, boy you watch _way_ too many horror movies." Applejack stated, a bit annoyed before a loud roar catches them all by surprise.

"Maybe _you_ don't watch enough." Toby countered. Everypony turned to the unlit area of the hallway, then the creature that attacked them earlier appeared, all its with were bared to strike.

"Spike! Girls! Move!" Toby cried. All seven then made tracks. Now Toby at the rear of the group, and the look on her face when he glanced back toward the pursuer gave the lie to his repeated denial of fear. The apparition raced after them, scraping sparks from both walls with its clawed fingers, and they turned down another hall to give it the slip and huddle near Toby waiting for it to appear but after ten minutes or so, nothing came, but the girls and Spike continued to shake in fear.

"Cool it, super chickens." Toby told them in a deadpan tone and with a straight look on his face. "I think it's gone now

Rainbow then backed away. "Hey! Who are you calling a chicken!?" she demanded. Then she looked towards the scary looking suit of pony armor and gulped. "Although now that you mention it…"

"Well at least we are safe… for the moment." Fluttershy said. Then they heard yet another noise from afar.

"Did you hear that?" Twilight Sparkle asked, alarmed. Toby then got in front of her.

"Stay behind me," he advised her.

"Toby, I can take care of myself." Twilight reminded him.

"I know, but that's not gonna stop me from protecting you as best as I can." Toby stated.

"Yeah, don't really feel all that protected…" Rainbow grumbled.

"Is there something that you want to say to me?" Toby questioned, sternly.

"No. Nothing." Rainbow Dash stated.

"Then get moving." Toby said, as they began to proceed forward again but Rarity's attention was one again drawn away as soon as she spotted another tapestry.

"Oh. This. Is. Perfect!" she exclaimed as she rushed over to it and tried to pull it down with her hooves only for it to disintegrate into a pile of ash once it fell off, Rarity whimpered a bit.

"NO!" she exclaimed, before Toby pulled her.

"Come on, I told you; we can't stay in one place for too long." Toby reminded her. "It's only a matter of time before we all get jumped again/

"Maybe a little song will help us!" Pinkie suggested.

"Yeah… no." Toby responded. "In case you've forgotten, a monster is after us."

"Aw, come on, Toe! I little rhyming might actually lift our spirits!" Applejack said. "Here's one; 'hearts of gold and oh so cool, the guardians of harmony just plain old rule' What do you think?"

"It's… catchy." Toby responded.

"Here's one; 'rules make my head hurt, a senior's face is old as dirt'." Rainbow rhymed.

"Hey! Watch it RD! I know you're tired and crank and but you _cannot_ go around insulting my Granny." Applejack told her. "Plus making fun of old people doesn't even help at all!"

"Or makes it less irritating." Toby added.

"Whose irritating?" Everypony asked.

"Anypony that walks on all fours apparently." Toby stated, deadpan.

"You're no picnic either you know!" Rainbow told him.

"Well, luckily I think we've found it." Twilight informed them as they approached a pair of closed doors which seemed to contain something important.

"Finally!" The boy said as he pushed the doors open and they walked inside, but once they got a few feet inside they saw that it was completely pitch black.

"Man… where the heck is the light switch in this place? I can't see a thing!" Toby said before something metal and thin smacks him in the face. "Ow! Oh, here it is."

Toby pulled the cord to turn on the lights and when Twilight saw for herself all the book shelves filled with ancient looking books all over the place she could hardly contain her excitement as she gasped sharply and happily.

"Wow! Look at all these ancient books! It's like a second library! This is place a veritable goldmine of information! No, make that a treasure trove of knowledge! I can't believe it! This place is so awesome! Woo-hoo!" Twilight cheered

She then began to dive in and look through all the old books despite all the star spiders crawling around while the others just watched her zoom around, smiling happily for her, while Rainbow just did a facehoof and groaned.

"Only you Twilight…" she said.

"Hey, Rainbow! I think I found a Daring Do book her!" Twilight Sparkle called out in a sing song voice.

Rainbow's eyes widen before zooming off. "Out of my way!"

"Ooh! And I think I see another tapestry!" Rarity added as she rushed over to another part of the room.

"Boy, I wonder why this place is abandoned? It looks fine to _me_." Toby muttered to himself as he looked through a large book.

Spike then spotted something on the ground that instantly made him nervous. "Uh… what's that?" he asked.

Toby looked at what the little dragon was staring at and noticed a star shaped burn mark in the middle of the creaky wooden floor. He bent down inspected it curiously.

"Whoa… I wonder what happened _here_?" Toby wondered.

Fluttershy gulped as she looked around. "Maybe we shouldn't stay to find out…" she voiced. "That monster might still be in here…"

Toby then noticed a special book near a pile of rubble and picked up before opening. "Hello! Hey guys! I think I found the book Celestia mentioned," he told them.

"What's it say?" Rainbow asked.

"A bunch of boring stuff… but does say a little bit about Sombra. Says he used to be a _benevolent_ ruler at one point, but his experiments in dark magic corrupted him, drove him insane… and basically made him evil." Toby explained.

"What else does it say?" Twilight inquired.

"It also says that because of the dark magic's effects on his body, his genetic code is unstable, allowing him to shift from a solid, to a gas and to a liquid." Toby said. "But he is mostly more of a shadow of the pony he used to be and the main weakness of shadows is… sunlight! _That's_ how we can beat him!"

"Alright!" Rainbow cheered. "Now that we know of a way to destroy him, let's get out of his poor excuse for a dark closet!"

Toby nodded. "Agreed."

He and the others began to leave until they hear a sound coming from the corner behind them. They all exchange glances and walk to check it out. It was still hard for them to see, even with the light shining over head but the noise continued. As it got louder and louder, Toby gestured the others to get back only to stop when something very large starts to move. As all seven scream, panic-stricken, the mass tumbles over them but was blocked at the last moment by Toby's shield. They seem to be a large amount of rocks, rocks that used to be part of a column but were now rubble.

"Rocks… of course…" Toby groaned.

Rarity gasped when she saw that rocks had completely covered the tapestry. "And they destroyed the tapestry too! Oh… why does this keep happening to me!? WHY!?" she proclaimed.

Toby just shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe this place just doesn't like you."

"Maybe you can pretend to be somepony else." Rainbow suggested.

"Oh, absolutely not!" Rarity stated.

"Yeah! She _perfect_ the way she is…" Spike sighed, lovingly.

"Oh grow up." Toby huffed, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, I'm telling you all, the whole universe is playing a little cosmic joke! 'We'll give Rarity an obsession with fixing up ancient art and then _never let her succeed!_" Hah-hah-hah-hah! Isn't it funny?!" Rarity exclaimed, frustrated.

Toby just stared at her, unfazed. "Yeah, hilarious."

Applejack then made exaggerated horror-movie moans, as she poked fun at the encounter and at Rarity's dramatic exclamation. "Ooh, look out ya'll, big scary rocks! Hide all your fancy-pant tapestries!" she said as she and Rainbow began laughing.

"Good one!" Rainbow said as she and AJ continued laughing while Toby remained straight faced. "Oh, come on Toe! Don't even try to tell me that didn't scare you."

"It didn't." Toby insisted.

"Aw, come on Toe! Don't be afraid of being afraid! Why I was even…" Pinkie began.

Suddenly, tentacles pop out of nowhere right as she said this, and they took a firm hold and began to drag her away, causing her to trailed off into a scream. Fluttershy's voice got stuck on one horrified, quivering note as she stared.

"Pinkie!" Toby cried.

"Oh no! Toby was right! Funny girl goes first!" Pinkie cried as the monster continued to drag her into the darkness.

"Not today!" Toby said as he rushed over to her.

"Toby!" The others yelled.

Toby grabbed the monsters tentacles, pulled as hard as he could before yanking Pinkie forward, who yelped in response while Toby created a magical energy blade construct and sliced the tentacles off of her. The creature roared in pain as its remaining tentacles slithered away. Everypony else rushed over to her.

"Pinkie, are you ok?" Applejack asked, concerned.

"Who me? I'm super-duper!" Pinkie replied with a smile and a giggle. "Plus those tentacle things tickled!

Pinkie continued to giggle about her little encounter, which annoyed Toby to a degree.

"There's nothing funny about this Pinkie. You nearly got _eaten_." Toby told her, sternly. "Perhaps you should take something like that more seriously. This could affect us greatly."

"Oh _relax_, Captain Serious!" Pinkie Pie told him. "And turn that frown upside down! That's what makes a smile!"

"I _am_ smiling." Toby said, straight faced. "This is my happy face."

"Well at least your happy!" Pinkie smiled back, looking pleased. Toby groaned slightly before they continued to proceed down the hallway again.

"So… what happens at the _end_ of a horror movie…?" Applejack asked, a bit nervously.

"Oh everypony gets horribly killed except one innocent girl who finally kills the monster with a machete but it's not really dead." Toby answered.

"Goodness! Is that true? Could that really happen?" Fluttershy questioned.

"Probably." Toby shrugged. "My money's on Twi… should I not make it."

"What?" Twilight asked, shocked.

"Well you are often in charge of the gang whenever I'm not around, so I'm trusting _you_ to look after everypony, should something horrible happen to me." Toby stated.

"Nothing bad is gonna happen to you Toby! I promise you on that." Twilight Sparkle said.

"You can't make promises like that." Toby told her, seriously.

"I guess not…" Twilight admitted. She sighed deeply. "Come on, let's go… before that creature finds us again…"

Toby, Twilight and the others all continued to make their way down the hallway once more in complete and utter silence, which was soon broken when Pinkie eventually approached Toby and began speaking to him and tapping him.

"Toby? Toby? Toby?" Pinkie said over and over each time she tapped him with her hoof.

"What!?" Toby asked, in a hushed and annoyed tone.

"Uh… I need to use the little filly's room." Pinkie said, sheepishly.

Toby groaned. "Fine, but make it quick," he told her as she began to move away from the group but unknown to them as soon as they slipped out their sight, something shadowy quickly grabbed her and pulled her into the darkness.

"And make sure you wash your hooves before you come back, ok Pinks?" Toby said. He was a bit troubled when he didn't hear her call out to him. "Pinkie?"

Everypony turned and were surprised to see that Pinkie was already long gone, and none of them even heard it.

"Wow, Pinkie can sure move when she really wants to." Spike observed. "Is she always that fast? I haven't noticed."

"No… she's not." Toby stated, suspiciously.

"Maybe one of us she go back and make sure she got to the… bathroom alright?" Rarity suggested.

"I don't like that… but I guess it couldn't hurt." Toby said.

"Right." Rarity nodded as she turned and began to walk off only to be grabbed by the darkness as well. This time, Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy noticed this.

"Where'd she go?" Rainbow wondered before one by one she, along with the rest of the girls are grabbed by a clawed hand made up of shadowy energy and pulled into the darkness. Spike quickly turned around soon saw that he and Toby were the only ones in the hallway now.

"Uh… Toby? Have you noticed…" Spike began, starting to look afraid and worried as he began to follow Toby again.

"That the girls have all mysteriously disappeared?" Toby questioned, completely calm.

"You don't seem all that concerned." Spike observed.

"Because I've seen this the way this goes a thousand times, it's that monster movie trope I explained earlier, dude. Remember; the creature picks us off one by one then after which he reveals his diabolical plan." Toby explained.

"Oh… I hope the girls are ok." Spike said, worried.

"They better be. But I'll bet even as we speak evil forces are plotting against us. Specifically Sombra…" Toby stated, suspiciously. "And don't worry, we're not leaving this castle without the others."

Spike gulped. "Aren't you scared?"

Toby glanced at him, greatly annoyed. "For the last time, I'm not scared of this place!"

The human walked ahead while the little dragon had a frozen, wide-eyed expression on his little face. As the boy continued walking the light that Spike was carrying behind him suddenly went out.

"Spike, I could use a little more light." Toby said, he then turned around and saw that Spike was gone, nowhere in sight. Surprise writes itself all over his face in bold type. "Spike?"

Toby then calmed down and folded his arms as a strong wind blew by him. "And… cue the monster reveal."

Just then the monster popped out of the shadow and slammed him into the wall, making some the pictures hanging on it shake. Toby groaned and looked up towards the beast as it raised its hockey mask face and roared right in his face, blowing air and spit all over his mug.

"That's it… give me your fear…" The creature suddenly spoke. Toby recognized the voice.

"Sombra!?" he exclaimed.

"Yes…" he hissed. "You may have stopped me once… but you won't stop me again! Thanks to your fear… I'm getting stronger every day! Face it boy… your will is _broken_. Your through!"

The creature then lowed it's claws and left a large scratch mark on Toby's shirt. Fed up, Toby gave it a furious kick to the face which knocked it back into the other side of the wall. The creature then morphed and started to loom over him with its red eyes shining in the darkness.

"Stay back! You don't scare me!" Toby proclaimed, as a colossal animal shaped beast stepped forward and reached for him. The new apparition came out far enough to show itself as a wolf-like thing with a bird's head. He turns her face away and closed his eyes.

"I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid!" Toby cried as he bent down and put his hands to his head as the monster roared. His eyes were tight and teeth clenched so hard they might break at any moment. After a long second, he relaxed and opened his eyes wide. His next words have the tone of someone who seemed to have finally accepted an inevitable and immutable truth

"I… I am afraid," he admitted. His eyes then glow. "I may be afraid of losing them… but that doesn't mean I can't fight back!"

The creature backed away, uncertain as Toby rose up off the ground.

"Be gone!" he yelled as a huge wave of white energy radiates out of his body and instantly evaporated the monster like it was nothing and in its place, Spike and the others all appear and drop to the ground one by one. They all groaned in pain, Toby rushed over to them.

"Hey, are you all ok?" Toby asked them.

"Ugh… yeah." Rainbow Dash said.

"I think so." Fluttershy added.

"I'm ok." Spike assured Toby

"Well, at least we're all alright." Twilight smiled.

"No thanks to _me_." Toby stated, depressed.

"What pray do you mean?" Rarity asked as Toby faced the wall.

"It _was_ Sombra who created that creature, he was using it to feed off my fears… my fears of losing you all… which I nearly did." Toby said. He pounded the wall a bit. "Ugh! I can't believe I was so _stupid!_ I should have known Sombra would try to use my fear against me!"

"We _all_ have fears Toby." The lavender unicorn stated.

"Yeah, especially _me_." Fluttershy added.

"And we all have moments of weakness, you can't expect to brave _all_ _the time_." Twilight told him.

"But I _need_ to be!" Toby said.

"And why is that anyway?" Applejack questioned. "Huh? Tell us!"

"Because I feel like every time I do something right, I do something wrong! All because I'm afraid!" Toby exclaimed. Everypony looked at him stunned after he said this. "Sometimes… I just don't know actually _can_ protect you."

"We don't need protecting!" Rainbow stated.

"Yeah, you seemed to have everything under control back there…" Toby remarked, sarcastically as he brushed the dirt off of him. "But at least your safe. I should go now…"

Toby began to leave but Rainbow quickly stopped him.

"Wait, that's it? You filled your damsel-in-distress quota for the day, and now you're just gonna walk away?" she questioned.

"It's better this way." Toby said, firmly.

"Better for _who_ exactly?" Rainbow asked, with a raised brow.

"I already almost got you guys killed by a freaky monster created by Sombra, I think I should quit while I'm ahead." Toby said.

"Ahead of what?" Pinkie asked, confused. The others rolled their eyes.

"It's the best way to protect you all." The red-head explained.

"You can't protect us from everything Toby." Twilight told the human.

"But I_ have_ to! And I have to stay away from you all to do so." Toby stated. He looked a bit teary eyed. "I mean… what if something happens to you guys because of _me?_"

"It _won't_." Rainbow said, firmly.

"But it _could_." Toby countered. "You never know… and hoping won't do be any good right now"

"So… your still afraid." Fluttershy pointed out. Toby nodded.

"But… but you were so brave back there…" Rarity remarked.

"I just _faced_ my fear, I didn't conquer it… it's still there." Toby said.

"Ouch…" Spike winced, sympathetically.

"Look, I can't imagine how much of a burden this has all been on you. But _please_ Toby… we _need_ you to _hope _again." Twilight told him, sincerely.

Toby paused before answering. "Sorry… can't afford to hope right now," he said before starting to walk away bur Rainbow began to follow him.

"Oh no! You're not gonna just write us off like that!" Rainbow Dash declared before getting in front of him. "Not without a fight!"

"I told you; I'm protecting you guys." Toby stated.

"Yeah, good job with that." Rainbow said, sarcastically.

"Rainbow!" Applejack scolded. "Let it go."

"No! I'm not gonna you ride out of my life _again_, Toby!" Rainbow Dash said, firmly.

"You think this is easy for me?" Toby questioned. "Do you think I _like_ not being with you guys?"

"Well no but…" Rainbow began.

"Look… I'm sorry that I've been so harsh… I guess this Sombra thing is getting to me." Toby said. "I just… I just don't want anything to happen to you… to any of you. You say what your future selves looked like, how much they differed from you. I just don't want you guys to go through any of that… which I suspect… might be because of me."

"Why in Equestria would you think that?" Twilight asked, softly.

"Well your older selves weren't exactly happy with the older me, and it seemed that the future was caused by _me_." Toby stated. "I believe that if I take this a little bit more seriously, tried to control my anger and avoid fighting as much as I can… I might be able to change that. To fix things. So… I apologize in advance for whatever things I may say or do to you in the future. I truly am sorry…"

"Toe, we're _never_ gonna drift apart." Rainbow told him, firmly.

"Yeah, you can try to keep us away all you like but… your never leaving our lives." Applejack stated. "Cause we're with you till the end of the line."

Toby smiled a sad smile after a long and thoughtful pause. "Thanks guys… and your right, I can't be brave all the time, from now on I'll try to accept that my fears are a part of me. All I can do is face them." he said, as he began to walk away. "And if you need me… I'll be there. Whether it's personal or not."

The girls continued to watch Toby leave before he suddenly zoomed away from the castle. Gone in the blink of a eye.

"Poor kid…" Applejack remarked, sadly.

"Indeed…" Rarity added.

"Oh… I wish we could just throw a big party for him to make him feel better." Pinkie Pie said before her ears droop. "Though I doubt he'll be in the mood for it…"

"I miss old, happy, funny, rush-in-foolishly, Toby…" Spike said.

"Me too…" Fluttershy nodded

"I looks like our mission isn't just to save the future… we also have to save _Toby_." Twilight observed.

"From who?" Pinkie Pie asked, innocently.

"From the darkness… from despair … and from himself." The unicorn stated. "Maybe then he'll go back to his old self. Or at least part of it."

"You think so?" Applejack inquired.

"It's worth a try." Twilight said. "Although, getting close to him _emotionally_ will be difficult."

"Especially with him hiding in his shell most of the time." Rarity added.

"He's must be under a ton of stress…" Fluttershy mused, sympathetically.

"Yeah… kind of makes me feel bad for disturbing his meditating earlier." Rainbow admitted.

"Maybe you should join him during that." Twilight suggested.

"_Me_? _Meditate_? Have you even _met_ me?" Rainbow inquired, a bit incredulously.

"Well I know it'll give you some one-on-one time with him, which admittedly I'm a bit jealous of." Applejack said.

"Ugh! Do you guys _still_ think I have a crush on Toby! Because I don't! Especially the way he is now!" Rainbow Dash stated, stubbornly. Spike and Fluttershy exchange knowing glances but decide not to comment on it.

"Well regardless… he _needs_ you. Whether he knows it or not." Twilight told her. Rainbow glanced in the direction he went in thoughtfully and began to think long and hard.

* * *

Later the next day, Toby, now wearing a long sleeved black button-up shirt, the stylized sun symbol still on his back, denim blue jeans, a black belt and black shoes, was back on the flat rock and sitting in a cross-legged position like he was before. He still has his eyes closed and a peaceful look on his face.

"Inner peace… inner peace…" Toby chanted until he heard somepony approaching him. "Who is it?"

Behind him was none other than Rainbow Dash herself, floating down and landing behind him while watching him continue to meditate.

"Uh… hey there Toby, sorry for interrupting, but..." Rainbow started

"I haven't seen anything to fight today." Toby said.

"Actually… I was wondering if I could join you in this… meditation business." Rainbow admitted, with hesitation in her voice.

Toby turned around, surprised. "Really?" he asked.

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, thought I'd give it a try. That is… if it's ok with you."

Toby paused for a moment and then spoke. "Alright. Go ahead.

Rainbow Dash flew over and assumed Toby's pose the best she could, floating at the same height above the ground.

Toby looked forward and closed his eyes. "Find your center," he interacted as Rainbow closed her eyes as well. "Focus your energies, and..."

"Inner peace… inner peace…" Toby and Rainbow Dash chanted.

After the second repetition, Toby broke off and opens one eye as Rainbow completes the mantra. "Dash?" he asked.

Rainbow opened one eye as well. "Yeah?"

"After this... you wanna go hang out sometime?" Toby asked hesitantly.

"Mmm-hmm." Rainbow nodded. Both of them closed their eyes again.

"Inner peace… inner peace…" Toby and Rainbow Dash chanted as they continued to float over the shining river while Celestia's sun continued to shine over head of both of the floating duo. Indicating that all was well in the world, other than the shadow that was lurking from behind them. It growled then snuck away.

"The boy is more of an annoyance then I had anticipated... no matter, with the help of my future self I will make sure the events he was warned about _do_ come to pass and then once he is gone I will ensure that my destiny. Is. _Complete!_" Sombra said to himself as he laughed evilly slithering back into the shadows.

* * *

**Author's Note: This episode borrows elements from the MLP Episode 'Castle-Mania', the Teen Titans episode 'Fear Itself, Kung Fu Panda 2 and the Ben 10 Omniverse episode 'Rad Monster Party'. I do not own them.**


	4. A Rotten Apple

**My Little Pony: The Human Chronicles**

**Episode 32: A Rotten Apple**

The sun was shining brightly in the sky above Equestria, radiating large amounts of heat down towards the land, making everything and everypony feel hot and sweat. All except one it would seem, for the boy known as Toby Morrison, who was currently setting up a new fence around the Apple Farm, continued to work despite the over bearing heat and the fact that he was wearing a black t-shirt, the stylized sun symbol now on his chest and a bit smaller, with a gray shirt underneath, blue jeans and brown farmer boots. He also seemed to have grown his hair out a little, though it was still nowhere near to length it was usually at.

As he continued to work all by himself with a peaceful look on his face, a familiar filly known as Apple Bloom quickly approached him happily, as a gentle breeze blew to the east and Celestia' sun still shining over his head, making the land he was working on look very nice. Not to mention the fresh orchards nearby added a great deal of serene beauty.

"Hey, Toby!" she said.

"Hey, Apple Bloom," Toby said back.

Whatcha doing?" Apple Bloom asked, curiously.

"Oh, just chores." Toby responded.

"Chores?" The filly asked, surprised.

"Yeah, work keeps a man… and pony… honest." Toby told her. "Gotta protect the things you work hard to build."

"Hmm… my sister says that all the time." Apple Bloom remarked.

"Well she's right." Toby stated.

"So… why are you remaking the fence again?" The filly asked.

"The old one was starting to rot and break so AJ got me to replace them all with new boards, it was pretty easy, considering what I could do, but I still try to show restraint." Toby explained.

"Why? With your power you could get all these dumb old chores done easily." Apple Bloom pointed out.

"I know, that's the point; if I did then it wouldn't be considered _work_." Toby stated. "Not to mention it would feel like cheating to me."

"Cheating?" Apple Bloom echoed.

"Yeah, your sister and your brother don't need powers to get the job done and neither should I." Toby said. "I want to prove that I can pull my own weight using my own human skills."

Apple Bloom stared at him for a bit, Toby raised a brow slightly.

"What?" he asked.

"Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were right… you are different," The red maned filly remarked.

"For the better, I hope." Toby shrugged as he continued working.

"Yeah, they say you act more grown up… but you always look sad." Apple Bloom observed.

"I do?" Toby remarked a bit indifferently.

"Yeah. Why don't you ever tell anypony what's wrong?" Apple Bloom asked him.

Toby seemed to ignore her as he walked over and took another wooden rod that would soon be a part of the fence and put on his shoulder effortlessly. He turned to the filly.

"Come on, give me a hoof." Toby told her, gesturing to the long piece of wood before walking back to the spot where he was remaking the fence.

"Uh… I'm already done my chores…" Apple Bloom smiled, nervously.

"If you say so." Toby said as he continued walking to the fence before positioning the pointed pole properly and slamming it into the earth. "And just FYI, I'm perfectly fine. I'm sad or anything I'm just handling situations with a little more finese then I used to."

"That doesn't sound like you." Apple Bloom remarked.

"People change." Toby shrugged.

The two of them then began to hear the head of the farm herself, also known as Applejack walking over to them with a cheery smile on her face.

"Howdy Toe. Howdy Apple Bloom!" Applejack called out as she approached him.

"Hey, AJ." Toby called back.

"Howdy sis!" Apple Bloom added.

"So, how's farm life been treating ya so far?" The farm pony asked.

"Great. I can't tell you how peaceful working here is." Toby mused. "It's even better than constantly hitting something all day."

"Now that's something I thought you'd _never_ say." Applejack remarked.

"I'm a bit surprised myself." Toby admitted.

"Well I'm glad you're here helping us out more. Like I said, we all love having ya hear." Applejack told him.

"Yeah, _especially_ Applejack." Apple Bloom smirked.

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack exclaimed, embarrassed.

"Why she even has a spare room up in the house where I'll bet she would _love_ to see you move into." Apple Bloom said to Toby. "Why I'll bet she…"

"Apple Bloom! Stop pestering him already! He's got chores to do." Applejack told her sister, sternly.

"She's right you know." Toby added

"And speaking of chores, should _you_ be doing _yours_?" Applejack asked her little sister, who quickly became very nervous.

"Uh… maybe?" The filly said.

"I thought you were done your chores?" Toby pointed out.

"Apple Bloom, did just _lie_ to Toby?" Applejack questioned her younger sister, suspiciously and with narrowed eyes. "You _did_ didn't you!"

"Apple Bloom, you know how your sister feels about lying." Toby reminded her.

"That's right, now be a good filly and say you're sorry." Applejack told her, firmly.

"Sorry…" Apple Bloom apologized in a low voice.

"It's cool, don't worry." Toby assured her.

"See? He accepted it." Apple Bloom said to her sister. "So can I go…?"

"No! You're doing your chores, end of story." Applejack said, sternly.

"Toby! Please don't let her make me do my chores! Please!?" Apple Bloom begged.

"Apple Bloom!" AJ scolded.

"What? I'm not too proud to beg!" The filly said.

"Whoa! Calm down here AB, I was your age once, and I'm gonna say to you exactly what my Dad said to me in time like this; get over it." Toby said, bluntly.

"Aw, that's so unfair!" Apple Bloom complained.

"Sorry Apple Bloom, you just gotta deal with it." Applejack stated.

"He said to me." Toby added.

"But sis, you're ruining my life!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"I said to him." Toby continued. "Now I can give you the rest of the conversation but let's just cut to the chase; you're doing your chores little lady."

"What he said." Applejack said in addition.

As Toby resumed his work, Apple Bloom growled in frustration as she raised her hooves up a bit towards Toby's neck as if she was trying to strangle him.

"Strangling me's not gonna help." Toby informed her without turning around, which left her dumbfounded. The filly lowered her ears sadly and then began trotting towards the house, slowly.

"Thanks for that." Applejack told him.

"For what?" Toby asked.

"Having my back, don't know what the other gals and I would do without you." The orange Earth Pony mused.

"Well gladly you'll never find out." Toby assured her.

"Good." Applejack smiled. She then began blushing as she toyed with her mane a bit. "So… you doing anything fun Saturday night?"

"Well… all the guys from the barber shop quartet I usually watch are back on Earth so… no not really." Toby replied, bluntly and in a deadpan tone.

"What about you and Rainbow? You still doing that mediating stuff?" The farm pony questioned.

"Yeah, it's still hard for her to sit still or stay on the ground though." Toby admitted. "Her longest time was four minutes and ten seconds."

"Seriously?" Applejack inquired.

"Can't say I was surprised, ponies with her particular psychiatric disorder have trouble sitting still anyway." Toby said, calmly.

"Beg pardon?" The Earth Pony asked.

"She has ADHD AKA Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder." Toby explained. "Like I said, it prevents a person or pony from sitting still or concentrating."

"Yeah, that sounds like Rainbow…" Applejack admitted.

"Exactly." Toby said.

"It also kinda sounds like…" Applejack began before she heard a loud clattering noise inside the house behind her. Both Toby and Applejack turn to it, a bit surprised.

"Sorry!" A certain little filly's voice called out.

"Somepony else I know…" The farm pony finally finished before sighing. "Honestly, sometimes I don't know what I'm gonna do with her.

"Yeah. You, know sometimes I wish had a younger sibling, then I come here. All better." Toby said.

"Very humorous, sugercube." Applejack smiled, amused. "At least _that_ part of you hasn't changed."

"Yeah. I guess." Toby admitted, though he didn't sound like he believed it himself. He then impaled the ground with another pointed stick, then used a hammer to plant it even more firmly into the ground. Toby panted a bit and wiped the sweat off his brow before continuing to work.

"Whoo-wee! You sure are working hard there, sport!" Applejack remarked.

"It's the only way I know how to work, really." Toby shrugged. "Though don't sell yourself short, you're one of the hardest working ponies I've seen here and the best applebucker too."

"Aw, shucks Toe! You're making me blush." Applejack said, hiding her actual blushing red face.

"So is it true?" Toby suddenly asked.

"What is?" The Orange Pony questioned.

"What Apple Bloom said before; about you actually having a _room_ for me." Toby reminded her.

Applejack blushed even more. "Well uh…"

"Because I'm surprised; I didn't think _anypony_ would want to have _me_ living in their house, since I tend to bring so much _trouble_ into other ponies lives…" Toby said, depressed.

Applejack frowned. "Now don't you talk about yourself like that, sugarcube! Like Rainbow said, your better than you think you are and don't you _ever_ forget that," she told him firmly.

"Really? Because I still think I'm no good for you guys… I mean… look at how many times I've nearly gotten you all killed."

"Toby." Applejack said before walking up to him and looking him straight in the eye, which was easy to do due to him kneeling down and being the same height as her, she looked at him with a bit of an upset look on her face. "Listen to me partner, is there's _one_ thing you are its_ good_ and anypony that has a problem with that can talk to _me_. Ya hear? And frankly… we'd go straight into the scariest, most terrifying places in Equestria with you and you know why? Because you're _worth it_."

Toby smiled a bit, touched. "Thanks AJ."

"And you know… _maybe_… I'd like you to move in… but it was just a crazy thought since well… as you know we all love having you here and… frankly we could always use some more helpers around here and you're so nice and dedicated and handsome and… practically uh… um…" Applejack stammered as she and Toby's faces got closer.

Their breathing got closer as his mouth and her muzzle got closer but just when it looked like they were about to make contact, a loud voiced called out to the farm pony

"APPLEJACK! COME IN PLEASE!"

The orange Earth Pony groaned loudly as she pulled away and stomped the ground, a bit frustrated. "Dang flabit Granny Smith…" he muttered under her breath. She then turned to the almost surprised looking Toby. She blushed madly. "Well… I'd better get back inside and… see what all the fuss is about."

"Yeah… and I'd better get back to work, still got a lot of chores to do." Toby said.

"Right." Applejack nodded as she turned around and began walking back, all while hiding her very flushed looking face.

Though after a bit of walking Applejack finally turned back to Toby, who was gathering his things, and then spoke to him with a more encouraging tone of voice.

"By the way, I know for a fact that if you just walked up to any mare and asked her out she'd probably say 'yes'." Applejack told him.

"So I've been told. That's why I don't ask." Toby said, as he stood up with the pointed piece of wood on his shoulder as he began to walk off.

"Too shy or too scared?" Applejack smirked.

Toby turned to her. "Too busy. Simple as that," he said before walking away.

"Yeah… simple." Applejack muttered before turning and walking back into the house where her family was.

* * *

Applejack soon entered the household near the big red and purple barn and walked into the living room where aside from the carpet, family pictures and other farming knick-knacks, her big brother, little sister and granny were all gathered around a big blue and gold chest set against the wall.

"Howdy. What are ya'll doing?" she asked.

"Granny finally found the key to this thing, so we can finally open it!" Apple Bloom said, excited.

Applejack looked over the chest. "This old thing?" she asked, in disbelief. "But this thing's always been locked."

"Till I found the key that is!" Granny Smith added, as she held the small key in her mouth.

"So… what is in their Granny?" Applejack inquired.

"Well if I knew I think I would have told you Applejack." Her granny told her. "Remember, my memory ain't what it used to be… could be anything in there."

"Eeyup." Big Mac said in agreement.

"Well open it up and let's see!" Applejack said.

"Ok, hold your horses dear." Granny Smith nodded, as she bent down and put the key in the slot before turning it. They all heard the thing unlock after hearing a little 'click'.

"Oh boy… what do you think in there?" Apple Bloom wondered. "Bits? The Deed to Ponyville? Candy? The suspense is killing me!"

"Whoa there, Apple Bloom!" Applejack urged her sister. "Let's calm down and we'll see. Big Mac, give me a hoof, would ya big brother?"

"Eeyup!" Big McIntosh nodded.

The two siblings then put both of their hooves on the top of it and then yanked open the chest by pushing it upward. After that was done they both looked inside and were surprised by what they saw.

"Whoa." Big McIntosh remarked.

"Well I'll be." Applejack remarked while their Granny snickered to herself. Then Apple Bloom looked it.

"Honestly. I was kinda hoping for candy," she admitted.

Inside the chest was a large assortment of items like pictures, old knick-knacks and family treasures just to name a few.

"So… what is all this stuff?" Apple Bloom asked, curiously.

"Why these her are the Apple Family treasures." Granny Smith said, proudly. "Little items and knick-knacks we Apples have gathered ever since we moved to Ponyville."

"And little family treasures Granny Smith has been collecting ever since we were born." Applejack added.

"Eeyup! Like my first work horse collar." Big Mac stated, holding up a smaller and more worn out version of his work horse collar he was currently wearing.

"Aw… the cast I got when I first broke my right hind leg apple bucking." Applejack cooed holding the cast fondling.

"And here's your first tooth Apple Bloom." Granny Smith said holding up a small plastic bag with a little tooth inside. "Been keeping it there ever since ya lost it."

"Wow!" The filly said, amazed.

"Yep, much better than candy, huh?" The old pony remarked.

"Hmm, not so much, but we sure do have a lot of neat old stuff." Apple Bloom stated.

"Yes, we do." Granny Smith agreed. "But remember; our most important and most treasure item is our Apple Family Bond, and that can't _ever_ be broken."

The three young apples all nodded in agreement before they continued to look inside the chest full of items AJ, Apple Bloom, Granny Smith and Big Mac then spotted something that appeared to be a stone chiselled to look like an apple and even painted red as well. There was even inscription on the front of it that read 'Apples Together, Family Forever'.

Applejack gasped as she put a hoof over her mouth in shock. "Is that…" she began.

"Yep, Ma and Pa's ornament." Big Mac smiled.

"Ma and Pa?" Apple Bloom said, surprised.

Applejack took the ornament and held it up with her hoof, smiling at it fondly, along with her big brother.

"I remember this thing all too well…" Applejack mused. "Sadly… I don't remember much of _them_…"

"It's alright Applejack. You were just a filly, nopony blames you." Big Mac assured her. Applejack smiled at him, comforted, as they began to remember small bits of their childhood when their parents were both still alive. Every good, bad and funny moment that happened between them all flashed in their mind as they stared at the ornament warmly.

"So… what's the deal with this thing anyway?" Apple Bloom asked, innocently as she stared at the ornament with confused eyes.

"Apple Bloom, this here is the ornament that Pa gave Ma when they first married, it's very precious to us AND our family…" Applejack told her. "It's really… the only thing we have left of them."

Big Mac put a comforting hoof on Applejack's shoulder as she closed her eyes and sadly remembered their parents passing when they both just a young filly and a young colt and Apple Bloom was still a foal.

"I've been keeping it safe in that there chest for quite a while, admittedly… I kind of forgot all about to too…" Granny Smith admitted.

"Well, no offence but are pretty old Granny but nopony blames you for that either." Applejack said to her.

"Who ya calling old!?" The old mare snapped, startling the trio.

"Uh…" Applejack said, which was about all she could say at the moment.

"My advice; quit while your ahead." Big Mac told his sister.

"Agreed…" Applejack nodded. She then noticed Apple Bloom holding the ornament in her little hooves and her eyes widened. "Whoa, there! Easy with that Apple Bloom! You don't want to break it!"

"Relax Applejack! I'm not gonna break it, I'm just playing with it." The filly said as she bounced it up and down in the air, widening the eyes of her siblings even more. "See nothing too it."

The rest of the family continues to watch nervously as the ornament flew up and down in the air, they seem to be afraid that it will break at any moment.

"Apple Bloom…" Applejack said, slowly and tensely.

"I told you, I got…" Apple Bloom began before she accidently tossed the ornament sideways in the air, causing her to gasp, along with everypony else.

They watched as the ornament bounced off the wall, then the floor and then the wall again, like it was small, bouncy but fragile apple shaped ball.

"Quick! Grab it before it hits the ground again!" Applejack cried.

The Apples all scrambled to grab the ornament and prevent it from crashing. They waved their hooves up in the air and all over the place as they tried to catch the little heirloom. But so far all they did was continue to bounce it in the air. Big Mac and Applejack then spotted high in the air before it began to drop to Earth, they then begin to dash towards it, and unknowingly each other.

"I got it! I got it!" Applejack cried.

"Eeyup!" Big McIntosh said, proudly clearly believing that he had it.

The two siblings continued to race towards the ornament, until finally they both crashed into each other and caused the ornament to bounce off both of their heads and land on the ground, and once it did it split in half, almost like an egg. Everypony gasped when they saw this happen. The silence in the room was deafening until finally Applejack said something really long and really loud.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed.

Her scream shook the very foundations of the house near the farm and caused all the animal like nearby to jump, startled, or simply fly off in fear. It also made a certain echo that barely reached the part of the farm that Toby was working at. Once it stopped, the human raised his head looking bewildered.

Back inside the house, Applejack continued to stare tragically at the broken ornament, along with the rest of the apples. She put her fore hooves on her head as she began to stutter.

"Wha… wha… no…" she breathed as she bent down and scooped up the broken pieces in her hooves.

Her little sister slowly approached her. "Uh… Applejack?"

"This… this is all _your fault!"_ Applejack declared to her sister, angrily.

"_My_ fault!?" Apple Bloom exclaimed, incredulously.

"You heard me! If you hadn't gone playing around with it, it wouldn't have been broken!" she exclaimed.

"Well _you_ didn't do a good job of saving it either!" Apple Bloom pointed out. She also turned to Big McIntosh. "_Neither_ of you did!"

"Hey!" The big guy protested.

"Well if _he_ hadn't got in my way…" Applejack began.

"Don't be like that." Big McIntosh told her, sternly.

Applejack glared at her brother as she looked him in the eye. "Or what? Ya gonna make me?"

"Eeyup!" The big pony stated, firmly and angrily.

"Alright, alright that's enough squabbling you three!" Granny Smith told them.

"Stay out of this Granny, I don't want to drag you into this… even though _you_ didn't do much to help either!" Applejack stated.

"Applejack! Didn't I teach you to respect your elder ponies?" Granny Smith scolded her. "Why if your parents were here!"

"Don't you _dare_ talk about them!" Applejack snapped. She then began to walk away. "Now I'm _done_ with this conversation and I'm _done_ with all of you!"

"Well if that's how ya feel, why don't you just move out for pony's sake!" Granny Smith called out.

"Fine by me!" Applejack said.

"Eeyup!" Big Mac said, angrily in agreement as he also began to stomp out of the room.

"But guys! It was _all_ our faults! Don't you…" Apple Bloom began to say before Granny Smith also left the room and walked to the kitchen. Apple Bloom growled in frustration and walked out the door as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, while the Apple Family was having their little squabble Toby was continuing to work. This time on the veggies they were all growing. He carefully dug a little hole in the soil before dropping a seed in and covering it before sprinkling a little water on it.

Just then, Applejack's dog Winona, came running up to him barking and wagging her tail happily. Toby looked at her, smiled a small smile and rubbed her head before continuing to work on the vegetables, that is until he saw Apple Bloom walking up to him with an angry looking on her face and muttering to herself.

"Ugh! I can't _believe_ this!" Apple Bloom grumbled.

"What's wrong?" Toby inquired.

"Nothing it's just… ugh! Applejack and Big Mac are blaming _me_, plus each other, for…" Apple Bloom began.

"What did you do?" Toby questioned.

"Nothing!" Apple Bloom denied. Toby just gave a raised brow and a look of disbelief. "Ok, I kinda broke a certain… something and now their blaming _me_ for it, when it was clearly _all_ our faults!"

"You know it's funny how every time to say 'nothing' it's always followed by _something_." Toby said.

"What's _that_ mean?" Apple Bloom inquired, suspiciously.

"Nothing." Toby said, quickly. "So what was this you 'all' broke, anyway?"

"Some ornament… it belonged to our parents." Apple Bloom said.

"Really?" Toby asked.

"Yeah… it really meant a lot to Big Mac and Applejack since _they_ knew Ma and Pa best, and I don't remember them much from when I was a foal." The filly said, sadly.

"I'm sorry." The human said.

"And to make matters worse, everypony is so mad at each other right now that Applejack and Big Mac are considering _leaving_ and if they leave their won't be any more apples or cider to sell to everypony and Granny will have to sell the farm…" Apple Bloom said, sorrowfully.

"WHAT!?" They hear somepony yell.

After a moment of surprise, Rainbow suddenly dropped down from the sky and landed right on Toby.

"What do you mean there might not be more cider!?" she exclaimed, horrified before being magically lifted into the air by a certain somepony she crushed on the way down. Toby got up with an annoyed expression.

"Yeah, and I see the fact that the Apples might lose their farm over this means nothing to you, huh?" Toby remarked, with a sour expression.

"Oh…" Rainbow Dash said, slowly. "Sorry…"

"Ah, it's ok, everypony knows how much you like our cider." Apple Bloom assured her.

"Like it? I _love_ that stuff!" Rainbow exclaimed as she looked both Apple Bloom in the eye very closely. "You know how hard I have to work just to get a sip of that stuff? And don't get me _started_ on how hard it was to get it the first time the Flimflam brothers rolled into town! Why I…"

"Whoa, Rainbow! You know when you get this excited about cider you get uncomfortably close." Toby told her, pushing her away gently.

"Sorry…" The Pegasus said.

"So, where are AJ and Mac now?" Toby asked Apple Bloom.

"Avoiding each other… and _me_ as much as possible…" Apple Bloom grumbled.

"Could you be more specific?" Toby questioned.

"Well… I think Big Mac's in the barn and Applejack's out bucking some more apples." Apple Bloom responded. "She'll probably have knocked down every apple on every tree we have by the time _she's_ done."

"Oh really?" Toby inquired.

"Yeah… she bucks _a lot_ of apples when she's upset." Apple Bloom explained.

"I'll say…" Rainbow agreed.

"Ok, Rainbow, gather the others. You Apple Bloom, Spike and I will talk to Big Mac while rest goes to go talk to Applejack. We'll see how it goes from there." Toby instructed her.

"Aye, aye!" Rainbow saluted him. She then leaned closer to the two. "And maybe _after_… we can convince them to make more cider! Huh? Huh?

"Stand back, you're uncomfortably close again." Toby informed the Pegasus.

"Sorry…" she said. Her eyes shifted a bit before speaking again. "I'm gonna go fetch the others now…"

The Pegasus then zoomed through the air like a bullet while the other watched her go.

"So… what makes you think Applejack and Big McIntosh will even _listen_ to us? How do we know they won't just plain _ignore us_?" Apple Bloom questioned the human as he turned away.

"We don't," he admitted coolly, before he began to walk off towards the barn, with an unsure little filly following him close behind.

* * *

Later, Toby, Apple Bloom, Rainbow and Spike all entered the large, red and purple barn where they saw Big Mac himself loading up some of the stacks of hay. He seemed to have an annoyed expression on his face.

"Uh… hey Mac?" Spike finally said, stepping forward. "Whatcha doing there? Chores?"

"Eeyup." Big McIntosh nodded.

"Want to talk to us about it?" Toby asked

"Nope." The big guy added.

"Not even your own little sister?" Rainbow questioned.

"Definitely nope." Big Mac stated.

"Aw, come on Big Mac! It's wasn't just _my_ fault! It was _all_ our faults!" Apple Bloom proclaimed. "You know that!"

"And why would _you_ care._ You_ didn't put much value into Ma and Pa's ornament and apparently neither did Applejack." Big McIntosh said, grumpy as he continued to work.

"Of course she did! That's why she's so mad!" Apple Bloom pointed out.

"Come on big guy, I know you're mad and all but you, Applejack, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith _need_ each other! The _farm_ needs you! The _cider_ needs you!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, a bit dramatically.

"And I thought _Rarity_ was the drama queen." Apple Bloom remarked to the guys.

"Yeah, it's like we're an alternate universe or something." Spike agreed.

"Nah, it's just her cider obsession." Toby stated.

"I'm right here ya know!" Rainbow Dash pointed out, annoyed.

"Look, I appreciate the fact that you care about my family and our farm so much, but this ain't none of your concerns." Big Mac said, stubbornly.

"With all due respect, we're _making it_ our concern, whether you like it or not." Toby said, sternly. "Now are you gonna stop acting like a big baby, grow up and apologize to your loving family or are you just gonna let this whole thing beat you?"

"It ain't that easy Toe. My Ma and Pa's most treasured item is gone and it's all because of _them_." Big McIntosh stated.

"Hey, you gotta get a hole of yourself, this family is a _team_, ya hear?" Toby reminded him.

The big red pony walked up to the human and looked him in the eyes with an angry expression. "This ain't nothing," he said a bit coldly. "Now if you'll excuse me I got to go meet with Miss Cheerilee."

The Earth Pony walked around them and exited the barn, the others just watch him go a bit sadly.

"Oh… now we'll _never_ get our cider!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she wallowed near Toby.

"Back up. _Big Mac _and _Cheerilee _are going on a date, not us!" Toby stated to Rainbow, a bit annoyed.

"Sorry…" The Cyan Pegasus said.

"Well… _that_ didn't work…" Spike said, sadly.

"Yeah…" Apple Bloom added, equally sad. "You think the others are doing better than we are."

"They'd better." Toby stated.

"Ugh, would it kill ya to say 'hope' for once?" Rainbow complained.

"In these kind of situations… there is no hope." Toby said, with a cynical tone as he proceeded out the door also.

* * *

Elsewhere, the rest of the girls were approaching Applejack deep in the apple tree forest. At the moment she was constantly bucking apples nonstop, clearly upset due to the angry look on her face and the force of her kicks which caused the trees to shake violently with each hit.

"Uh… Applejack?" Twilight said, trying to get her attention. But Applejack was too focused on her apple bucking to notice them and the shaking was too loud for her to hear them either. "Applejack. We need to talk."

"Applejack?" Rarity asked, as she walked right past them without saying a word.

"Um… excuse me?" Fluttershy piped up, but a bit quietly.

"Yoo-hoo!" Pinkie Pie called out waving her hooves in air, but it did very little to get her attention as Applejack then started bucking another tree. This time, even the leaves started to fall and not just the apples this time.

"Applejack! We need to talk to you!" Twilight said, loudly as she tried to break through all the loud noises her apple bucking was making. Eventually, after everypony tried and failed to get her attention, Pinkie walked up the tree, stopped it from shaking and looked Applejack in eye before screaming.

"APPLEJACK!"

"Ah… what? What's going on here? Why are ya'll yelling?" Applejack said, rubbing her sore ear.

"We need to have a talk with you." Twilight told her.

"About what?" The Earth Pony questioned.

"About your fight with your family…" Fluttershy replied, a bit quietly. "You know… about breaking the ornament?"

"Oh yeah, that." Applejack said, grumpy as she kicked an apple tree one more time. "Apple Bloom tell you all that? That mouthy little…"

"Actually, Tobias did… after Apple Bloom told him of course." Rarity corrected.

"He wanted _us_ to talk to you, while he and the others talked to Big Mac!" Pinkie Pie added.

"Well good for him." Applejack said, deadpan. "Though I doubt that big sack of useless is gonna really open to them at all."

"Applejack! He's your brother!" Twilight reminded her.

"_Was_ my brother." Applejack stated, firmly. "Since, as far as I can tell, he and I aren't family anymore! _You_ might be able to forgive _your_ brother but it's not the same and you just wouldn't understand."

Applejack then loaded up all the apples she had gathered and began to head on out, walking past her four friends.

"Applejack!" Twilight called out.

"Just leave me alone!" The Earth Pony stated, stubbornly as she continued to walk away, leaving her friends saddened, save for Pinkie Pie.

"Well I think that went great!" she said.

"Pinkie Pie, in _what_ universe would _that_ be considered 'great'?" Rarity questioned, annoyed.

"Hmm… not sure." Pinkie admitted. "Maybe in the one where I'm a cloud made of candy."

The others just sighed in response.

* * *

Sometime later, everypony had gathered near the front entrance to the Apple Family house to discuss their progress.

"So, you failed to get through to AJ just like we failed to get through to Mac, huh?" Toby remarked.

"Yeah…" Twilight replied, sadly.

"Not really that surprising, I mean you know how stubborn she can be." Rarity said.

"No shock there." Toby admitted.

"She's even more stubborn then _you_!" Pinkie Pie added.

"If that's possible." Spike quipped.

"So what then?" Rainbow wondered.

"I don't know… from the looks of it Big Mac and Applejack are getting closer to moving out!" Apple Bloom stated

"But what about the cider!? Somepony PLEASE think of the cider!" Rainbow bellowed, tragically.

"You have a problem." Toby observed.

"I know…" Rainbow admitted.

"Maybe we can talk to Granny Smith?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Might as well." Toby shrugged.

"I hope she's not as down in the dumps as Applejack was, that's no fun at all!" Pinkie Pie said.

"She'd better. By the way AB, you forgot to take out the garbage." Toby told Apple Bloom as he pointed to the smelly bag near them, which everypony avoided as they walked to the house while the little filly herself began to drag it away.

* * *

Elsewhere, Big Mac was in what appeared to be his bedroom only it seemed that some of his stuff had been moved and his bed was gone. He stared at the empty spot was a serious expression.

"AJ." Big Mac finally said.

Just then, Applejack opened the door to her brother's room and poked her head in with a smug grin.

"Mac." she said.

"Where's my bed?" he asked, seemingly calm.

"Oh! You mean that old thing that you've been sleeping on?" Applejack asked, with a fake cringe on her face. "I had it sent out to be cleaned."

"You know, usually when they clean a bed, they clean it when it's still in the home." Big McIntosh pointed

"Well, the bed cleaners-to-go guys take it …to go." Applejack said. "I guess they have some sort of special process or something."

"Very well, I guess I'll be sleeping on the bed in the basement then." The big farm pony sighed.

"Yeah, I don't think so. They were having a two-for-one special and I just couldn't refuse." Applejack added before beginning to leave.

"You think you're so smart. There's an air mattress in the basement as well." Big Mac reminded her.

"Popped it!" The orange pony said, in a sing-song voice as she poked her head in one last time before walking off. Big McIntosh sighed and put a hoof to his head before doing to his closet, presumably to pack up.

* * *

Around the same time, everypony was walking into the kitchen where Granny Smith was currently cooking an Apple Pie.

"Uh… hey, Granny." Toby spoke up. "How's it going?"

Granny Smith turned to them a bit teary eyed. "Never have grandchildren, they'll break your heart!" she expressed before going back to cooking.

"And now we know why _she_ doesn't get dates…" Rainbow Dash muttered to the others.

"Yeah, it's almost the same reason as _you_." Spike smirked while Rainbow growled at him with a red face.

"Granny Smith, I know your hurt and angry by what Applejack and Big McIntosh said to you but…" Twilight began.

"Who said I'm upset!?" Granny snapped.

"Uh… we did?" Pinkie Pie answered a bit meekly.

"Our point is, Applejack and Big McIntosh didn't mean to say such awful things to you." Rarity told her.

"They were just upset about the ornament getting destroyed." Fluttershy said.

"So am I!" The old pony stated.

"And your just gonna let the Apple Family bond be broken over something like _that_?" Toby questioned, sternly. "You may be one of the oldest Apples we know about but Applejack and Big Mac are still pretty young, they make mistakes just like the rest of us, but the future of the Apple Family rests with them and unless you fulfil your duty as a parental figure and guide them back to the light, everything you Apples have worked so hard for will be destroyed! Now I'm gonna ask you again. One last, old mare. Are you gonna let that happen?"

Granny Smith paused for a long time before she realized that Toby was completely right and sighed. "I suppose not," she said, making everypony smile. "But getting those two youngsters to make up is gonna be harder than you think."

Their smiles all practically shattered like glass after she said this.

"Granny Smith, isn't there _any _way of getting Applejack and Big McIntosh to make up?" Twilight asked the elder pony.

"Wish I knew, but those two are just too plain stubborn and far too angry with me to listen." Granny Smith stated, sadly.

"Come on Granny, this is Big Mac and Applejack were talking about! We can't let them leave!" Spike exclaimed as he held her shoulders, then backed away. "Boy… your shoulders are _freezing. _Are you even _alive_?"

Granny gave him an insulted look while everypony gave him a death glare, though Toby just looked her over up and down, seemingly trying to see if she was indeed alive till Twilight snapped him out of it.

"Come on, they can't be mad forever." Toby said.

"Well this here situation points to you being wrong. You're wrong a lot." Granny Smith remarked.

"And I don't think the Future Applejack mentioned Big McIntosh _at all_ when we met her…" Twilight realized. "So…"

"I refuse to believe that." Toby said, firmly. "But at least it can't get any worse…"

"Hey Mac! You forget your stupid turkey call trophies!" They heard Applejack yell before a bunch of metal trophies came flying out the door and landing in a pile, looking pretty dented up.

"Wrong again, wrong boy!" Granny Smith stated.

"Ok… let me check something." Toby said before he reached into his pocket and took out what appeared to be the list the other him delivered before they had to back the present. He read it for a while before spotting something. "So it is true."

"What is it?" Spike asked.

"On the list, _this_ is one of the events future me sent me to fix; the break-up of the Apple Family…" Toby said, grimly. "We got to stop it."

"That's right, because if the Apple Farm goes, Ponyville will lose all its delicious apple related foods." Fluttershy despaired. "And all the apples trees will _die_…"

"And we'll lose one of most loyal and dependable friends ever!" Pinkie Pie added, equally upset.

"Plus we'll lose all our cider!" Rainbow exclaimed, as if the world was ending around her. Toby just rolled his eyes.

"Ok hat settles it, you need help!" Toby declared.

"I like cider! Why don't you sue me for Pony's sake!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"I'm _considering_ it." Toby admitted.

"Hey!" Rainbow protested.

"Ah, young love… always so melodramatic these days…" Granny Smith remarked, amused.

"We're not in love!" Toby and Rainbow exclaimed in protest.

"Says the boy who always gets everything wrong." Granny Smith smirked. Toby just frowned, annoyed.

"So what do we do?" Rarity wondered.

"I wish I knew…" Twilight sighed, sadly.

"Well, we have to try!" Toby stated. "This is on the best family's I've ever known and I'm not about to let to crumble apart because of this and I'm certainly not gonna let it end up looking like _mine_ back on _Earth_."

Everypony then looked at him curiously after he said this.

"Like yours on Earth?" Spike echoed.

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked him.

"Does your family argue a lot?" Apple Bloom inquired.

"Yeah… you could say that alright. See, my Earth family not never got along as well as yours… at all." Toby told Apple Bloom. "We're what you'd call… _dysfunctional_. Barely any of us get along or even talk to each other anymore…"

"Aw, that's sad…" Apple Bloom said, sympathetically.

"You get used to it." Toby shrugged.

"Somehow I doubt that…" Spike muttered.

"So what now?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know, I'm out of creative ideas." Toby shrugged, sadly.

"Anypony else have any ideas?" Rarity asked.

"No…" Fluttershy said, just as sad as Toby.

"Nuh-uh!" Pinkie responded shaking her head.

"Nope." Spike stated.

"I think _I_ may have one… but it's pretty bold." Twilight told them, with a serious tone. "And we're gonna need Apple Bloom's help?"

"_My_ help?" Apple Bloom echoed.

"Yeah, your partially to blame for causing this mess kid, you gotta help _fix_ it. Got it?" Rainbow Dash told her.

Apple Bloom sighed. "Fine… what do you want to me to do…?"

"Well like I said… it's pretty bold." Twilight Sparkle repeated, looking towards Toby. With that look, Toby instantly got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm not gonna like this am I?" he asked.

"No… not really." The unicorn replied.

* * *

Sometime, later Toby and the others were on top of a really steep but grassy cliff with no bottom and Toby had a very displeased look on his face.

"I do _not_ like this…" Toby expressed, frowning as he looked toward the sight of Apple Bloom being inside a large, fancy looking wagon that looked like it was about to fall off the cliff.

"Aw, come on Toby, it'll be fine!" Twilight told him.

"There's nothing 'fine' about a plan like this. Dumb? Yes. Fine? No!" Toby said.

"But Toby, this is the only way to get Applejack and Big McIntosh to talk to each other and make up!" Twilight Sparkle insisted.

"Remind me again, _why_?" Toby questioned.

"Easy; if they see Apple Bloom in danger they'll rush over to save her!" Spike stated.

"Yes, after all no feud can be more important than a family member in danger." Rarity agreed. "I should know, I have been there."

"But what if something happens to go wrong?" Toby questioned. "Am I the only one who likes a _breathing_ Apple Bloom!?"

"Relax! What could possibly go wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked, confidently.

"Great, now you've jinxed it!" Toby frowned, dismayed.

"Don't worry, Toby-woeby! This wagon here is attached to a rope which _I_ will be in charge of!" Pinkie Pie said, holding up a long rope in his hooves which was indeed attached to the wagon.

"That way, if it happens to fall too far, Pinkie can just pull it back." Fluttershy added.

"Great… we're doomed." Toby said, flatly.

"Well we'd better get hiding. Spike, you get Applejack and Big McIntosh." Twilight instructed.

"On it!" Spike saluted as he took off.

Toby then noticed something that everypony else seemed to be forgetting. "Uh… ladies? Did you mention a rope? A rope connected to the wagon?" he asked.

Pinkie nodded. "Uh-huh!"

"Is it that same rope that seems to be getting away?" Toby added.

"Oh yeah, it's…" Pinkie began before realizing something. "Wait, getting away?"

The others all looked down and saw the long rope getting pulled away and to their horror they saw that the wagon was beginning to tilt more and more towards the edge of the cliff. Apple Bloom shrieked.

"APPLE BLOOM!" They all screamed.

"Pinkie! You were supposed to secure the rope!" Rarity proclaimed.

"Oops." Pinkie said, smiling sheepishly while Rarity gave her a death glare.

"I _told you_ this was dangerous! I _told you_ something would go wrong!" Toby exclaimed as he raced over to help the soon to fall filly.

"What can we say? You were right!" Twilight Sparkle said.

"For once!" Pinkie Pie added. "Ooh, wait till we tell Granny Smith!"

"If Apple Bloom makes it until then…" Fluttershy said, fearfully.

"Shouldn't have jinxed it Rainbow Dash." Spike told the Pegasi shaking his head in disapproval.

"Indeed, she shouldn't have…" Rarity agreed, also shaking her head.

"Hey!" Rainbow protested. "Whatever, let's just go help Toby!"

The five ponies all dashed after Toby, who then jumped and grabbed onto the rope as it went over, nearly following it on the way down until he used his magic to stretch his arm and grab onto the ledge of the cliff. He groaned as he struggled to hold up the wagon and hold onto the cliff's edge at the same time. His hands were literally full and as he continued to hold the wagon in place, his face became full of pure agony as he started to be stretched out past his body's physical limits.

"Don't worry Toby, we got your back!" Rainbow cried as she and Fluttershy flew down and tried to push it up on their end while on top of the cliff Twilight and Rarity used their magic to try to pull the rest of Toby's stretched arm while Pinkie simply used her hooves. They struggled and struggled but couldn't move it too much.

"Gah! It's too heavy! We need Applejack's help!" Twilight said, loudly.

"Oh, ya _think?_" Toby questioned, sarcastically.

Pinkie then let go of his hand. "You ok, Toby?" she asked.

"Do I have to answer?" The human practically screamed in a strained tone.

"Hmm… not if you don't want to." Pinkie shrugged.

"Ugh, where's Spike!?" Rainbow asked.

"I think he's still trying to get Applejack and Big Mac to come." Fluttershy replied.

"Yeah, but that could take…" Toby began to say before they all heard and saw Spike, Applejack and Big Mac themselves coming toward the cliff.

We're here!" Applejack announced.

"…Seconds…" Toby finished.

"Hey, sorry it took us so long, traffic!" Spike said, exasperated.

"So what did you want to show…" Big McIntosh started to say before he and Applejack then spotted everypony struggling to keep the wagon that the still screaming Apple Bloom was inside of from falling and their eyes bugged out.

"APPLE BLOOM!" They screamed as she rushed over to Toby's arm.

"Everypony step back! We got this!" Applejack stated, firmly.

"Eeyup!" Big Mac agreed as everypony did so before and Applejack began to pull on Toby's rubber arm and slowly began to pull him and the wagon up, though it was still a bit difficult.

"Apple Bloom! Can you hear me? I need you to climb up!" Toby told her.

"I can't!" she cried.

"Yes, you _can_!" Toby said. "Your stronger than you think you are! Now climb!"

Apple Bloom nodded and slowly began to crawl away from the seat she was in and towards the very back of the wagon, which the rope was attached to.

"There you go! That's it!" Toby smiled a bit while Applejack and Big Mac continued to slowly pull them up.

Though as they did so, Toby noticed that the rope he was holding to was slowly beginning to come undone due to his strength, it was about to break at any moment.

"Uh… do me a favor a go a little faster, ok AB?" he asked her, a bit impatiently. Apple Bloom nodded and continued to climb. "Keep coming…"

Apple Bloom attempted to reach for him as she poked her head out the back window of the wagon but suddenly, with a single snap, the rope broke and Apple Bloom started to descend.

"No!" Toby screamed as he quickly created a long energy construct hand that grabbed Apple Bloom at the last second while the wagon dropped to the ground and crashed. Toby breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come on you guys, pull!" Spike encouraged the Apple Siblings.

"We're… trying!" Applejack stated in a strained voice.

"Eeyup!" Big Mac added, equally strained. Then somepony else joined them in grabbing Toby's hand.

"Need a hoof, young'uns?"

Everypony turned and looked very surprised when they saw…

"Granny Smith!?" They all exclaimed.

"Now couldn't you youngsters have all the fun, now pull!" The old mare cried. One Granny's cue all three of them pulled hard and fast and finally managed to pull Toby, along with Apple Bloom back onto solid ground. They all breathed a sigh of relief this time.

"Toby are you ok?" Twilight asked, concerned.

"Ugh… fine I suppose." Toby said as he retracted his arm.

"Yeah, me too…" Apple Bloom added, still a bit worn out from all the screaming.

"Boy I haven't seen a granny throw something like that since my last family reunion!" Toby remarked. Everypony gave him an odd look. "I told you; my family back on Earth is _very_ dysfunctional."

"Well, I see you can still use energy constructs." Spike remarked to Toby, proudly. "Nice one!"

"Yeah… they still sting though…" Toby admitted, rubbing his sides.

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack cried as she rushed over to hug her sister tightly. Tears were threatening to pour. "Oh I was so worried!"

"We _all_ were." Granny Smith added as she joined in the hug, along with Big Mac.

"Eeyup!" The big guy stated as they continued to have one big family hug. Everypony smiled warmly at them as they continued to soak in the happiness of their family embrace. They then turned to Toby.

"Toby… thank ya… you saved my little sister… again…" Applejack smiled, thankfully.

"Ah, I didn't do anything… it was you guys that really saved her in the end… I was just the one who got her into this mess by allowing her to do it…" Toby muttered.

"Hey, that was our fault too." Twilight reminded.

"Mostly Rainbow cause she jinxed it." Spike added.

"I'm right here!" Rainbow Dash stated, annoyed.

"You what?" Applejack asked, a bit surprised.

"It wasn't supposed to go this far…" Fluttershy said, shamefully.

"We were simply trying to get you all back together again as a family." Rarity added.

"That's right, because from what we've seen today, you all _need_ each other!" Twilight told them.

"But… Ma and Pa's ornament…" Applejack began.

"Don't you guys see? You don't need that stupid ornament." Toby told them. They look at him surprised. "I know it was the last remaining item you have of your folks but you still have all their memories deep in your heart and as long you keep them there and keep your bond intact, they'll never leave you."

They all exchange glances and from the looks on their faces they all knew that he was right and smiled at each other.

"Sorry big brother for being so hard on ya… it was like I wasn't myself at all." Applejack apologized.

"Same here. You didn't deserve half of what I said to you." Big Mac stated.

"Well it was still my fault that it broke in the first place." Apple Bloom said, sadly.

Granny Smith rubbed her head. "Aw, don't you fret about that, you were right it was _all_ our faults, right from the start. Our stubbornness just wouldn't let us see it until it was too late."

"Aw! You guys are the best family ever!" Pinkie squealed. "I mean look at all of you! You're all here still in one big unit, loving each other and owning up to what went wrong! You never gave up, even when things got tough! You're not just family, your best friends!"

"I'll say. Most families could learn a lot from you guys." Toby agreed.

"Well after all you've been through today… and after everything you've put up with; it's clear that you too are an apple… to the _core_!" Applejack declared.

"Really?" Toby asked, surprised.

"Darn tootin!" Granny Smith said.

"Yes, siree!" Apple Bloom added.

"Eeyup!" Big Macintosh nodded.

"Welcome to the Apple Family, Toby!" Everypony exclaimed, happily.

Toby smiled, widely. "Oh… thanks you guys! This means a lot!"

"It's the least we can do after all you've done for us partner." Applejack told him. "Our family wouldn't still be here if it weren't for you. Besides… you're…"

She tried to say something else but once she remembered that Rainbow Dash was there she decided against and reluctantly said something else with a fake smile.

"You're like a little brother to me. Always have been…" she finished.

"Thanks, and you're still the big sister I never had." Toby said to her with a warm expression as he and Applejack both hugged.

"Wow! I have another brother! I have another brother!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, happily as she jumped onto Toby and hugged him tightly.

"Choking… not breathing!" Toby gasped, while everypony laughed at the sight while Applejack turned away to hide the falling tear from her face.

"I hope your happy Rainbow..." she whispered, very quietly. "And you too, Toby... I love ya... always have."

* * *

The next morning, it was a bright and sun shiny day in Equestria once more as Toby entered the Apple Family household wearing a red and black plaid button shirt, black jeans, a black belt and brown farmer boots. Inside the house he saw the Apple Family all having a good time, along with Pinkie Pie as well.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Toby asked.

"Oh, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith are all gonna write down what they learned in the recently found… 'Apple Family Journal'!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, dramatically. She then held out the book in her hooves. "Granny Smith just found it in the trunk, see?"

She dropped the book into Toby's hands and he grunted after he felt the weight of it.

"Whoa! Is this a book or a _brick_?" The human questioned.

"Uh… a little bit of both." Applejack shrugged. "Say you mind holding that for me, little brother? I need to write this down."

Toby smiled a bit after what she just called him and nodded. "Sure."

Applejack then reached out to take the quill but Apple Bloom stopped her.

"You know what? Maybe I should write it. I'm good at makin' things sound excitin'," she said.

"I have a history of excellent storytellin'. I should probably do it—" Granny Smith then began to say before she and the others noticed Big Mac coming over with a quill in his mouth. "Hey! Where in the haystack do you think you're goin' with that there quill?!"

Pretty soon enough the Apples all start arguing again much to Toby's dismay as he groaned loudly.

"Good grief…" he muttered.

"Hey, Toby! Look at me! I'm part of the Apple family too! I'm arguing! Argue, argue, argue! Bicker, bicker, bicker!" Pinkie babbled as she laughed while and the Apple Family continued arguing and Toby was left standing there still holding the very heavy journal and with a deadpan look on his face. Unknown to him, as he continued to stand there, on the things on his future self's list suddenly vanished.

* * *

**Author's Note: This episode uses inspiration from the MLP Episode 'Pinkie Apple Pie', the Good Luck Charlie Episode 'Duncan Vs Duncan' and the Amazing Spider Man movie.**


	5. Rescue the Phoenix

**My Little Pony: The Human Chronicles**

**Episode 33: Rescue the Phoenix**

Deep in the floating and scary looking prison known as Tartarus everything seemed to be in order. The prisoners were asleep, the tough looking guard ponies were keeping watch and nothing seemed to be out of the order one bit.

Inside one of the cells was a red, teenage dragon named Garble lying flat on his stomach inside a stone prison with no windows, just a bed, a toilet and a metal door with little bars on the only opening. His friends were in cells next to him, also fast asleep just like him. All in all, everything was quiet.

Unknown to anyone else that is, something had just entered the prison complex. Something that moved like a snake and went straight through stuff like air. It seemed to be a long black smoke that actually had the form of a snake before becoming a large black cloud that travelled down the tunnels of the prison.

The two guards that were standing near the cells of Garble and his accomplices continued to stand there with a steely gaze and looked completely unflinching. That is of course until noticed a pair of glowing red eyes in the middle of the darkness.

"Halt! Who goes there?" One them asked with an stern tone.

"Show yourself, coward!" The other one declared.

"If you insist." The voice hissed.

The guards waited for the intruder to show themselves but to their surprise they notice something near their hooves. Their faces turn to panic when they saw a black shadow slowly appear around them, the shadow then reveals many pairs of small red eyes opening up in the blackness of the shadowy fog. They growl and reveal themselves to be little rat like creatures that quickly begin to swarm the two guards before they could do anything else.

Pretty soon the creatures have swarmed up to their waist. They both fired a few point-blank magical shots into them with their horns before being sucked into the pile with loud screams that would have been audible ten miles away. The horde soon evaporated, leaving behind nothing of the guards but their armor and the empty ground from which they stood.

The shadows then swirled around and around like a little tornado before they soon faded and revealed the dark unicorn known as King Sombra himself. He knocked on the metal door of Garble's cell, plus his friends, gently.

"Psst," he said.

The three dragon teens just snored in response, annoying the dark crystal loving king a great deal.

"Wake up," Sombra said loudly.

This and the knocking finally caused the three dragons to wake up before stretching, they eyes then widened when saw Sombra standing outside their door way.

"Do not worry boys… I shall get you out of these cells in due to time." Sombra promised them.

"And who are _you_?" Garble questioned.

"I… am King Sombra, and I am here to offer you and your friends a deal." The evil king told them.

"You're a _pony_ king?" Garble inquired. Sombra nodded which caused Garble to snarl. "I should _kill_ you."

Sombra's green and red eyes flashed with rage which caused Garble to shake in fear a bit.

"What did you just say?" he hissed.

"Uh… nothing." Garble said, quickly.

"Yeah, he didn't say anything." The big dragon added.

"Yeah, nothing at all." The surfer sounding dragon nodded.

"Good. Now do you _really_ want to waste your energies on _me_? _Please_. You must think _bigger_ my scaly friends." King Sombra said. "I am not the one you want… you want _Toby Morrison_."

Garble snarled loudly once he heard Toby's name mentioned out loud.

"And I can give him too you." Sombra promised.

"How?"

"You'll see. But _I_ need something first… you must do something for _me_. Understand?"

"And what do _you_ want?" Garble asked, the king.

"Nothing much… simply something _very _valuable to Princess Celestia." Sombra said with an evil smile.

"The namby-pamby pony princess?" The red dragon inquired.

"The very one." Sombra nodded.

"And what do you want so badly from her?" Garble asked.

"_Who_, not 'what'." Sombra stated.

"Morrison?" The dragon guessed.

"No… but you are very close." King Sombra said.

"But… why can't _you_ do it?" The surfer dragon asked.

"Because… while I still have a great deal of dark power it's still not enough, my body is still weak… following my resurrection." Sombra replied. "In other words… I can't get in there without you boys and you all can't get out without me."

"Yeah? And what else do we get in return for all this 'help' were giving you?" Garble inquired. "You know, besides seeing Morrison's head on a platter."

King Sombra smiled wickedly after he asked this. "I thought you'd never ask," he said.

Garble raised a brow. "Oh?"

"Yes… what I also want you to do is create hate and fear amongst these wretched insects!" King Sombra declared. "By any means necessary. By any means you see fit."

Garble glared at him. "Ha, you couldn't _possibly_ know what we want."

"I know everything about you three, I know you like causing mischief and chaos… and with _me_ in command… you'll be able to do just that." Sombra promised.

The dragon's eyes all widen when they realized what he meant then smile evilly as well.

"Ooh! Sounds like fun!" Garble smirked.

"It is… and once you steal this little creature from Celestia… Morrison will come and I want you all to make him _bleed!_" Sombra exclaimed.

"But why should we trust you?" The big dragon challenged.

"Yeah, we've had bad experiences with powerful dudes like you." The surfer dragon added.

King Sombra nodded knowingly. "As have I… and besides… what do you have to lose?" he asked. "So what do you say boys? Do you want to wreak some chaos… or rot in this cell? What your _king_ say?"

The dragons all exchange glances at the mention of their king and then turn to Sombra.

"Ok! We're in. Whatever you want, let's just bail this jail!" Garble cried.

"Very well." Sombra said as his red horn glowed and in one swift motion he crumpled up the metal door, sent it flying off its hinges and right into the wall behind him. It hit the wall loud and hard and shook the three dragons a bit, but they all quickly regained their composures. "Come with me."

"Alright… but one other question… how exactly do you expect us to _beat_ Morrison this time?" Garble questioned.

"Unsurprisingly… I have a plan." King Sombra said. "And _a lot _of future knowledge."

The three dragons exchanged confused glances while Sombra smiled evilly at them while his eyes glowed.

* * *

Elsewhere, in Ponyville, while the four villains plotted their revenge, the inhabitants of the town were busy enjoying their day and it's saviors were all outside and seem to be having a party of some sorts.

They each wore party hats and were dancing and laughing around a picnic table full of snacks, cake and punch while Pinkie's pet alligator gummy sat in the middle of it with a blank expression. Nearby, Toby was laying on top of a tree branch inside a shadowy tree and with a serious expression on his face, so while his friend's partied, he just continued to brood in the dark.

At the moment his attire had shifted again and now he was wearing a black jacket with a stylized sun on the back over a black t-shirt, black pants with a black belt and black boots, making him look even more in tuned with the dark.

Pinkie then popped up from out of nowhere next to him and put a party hat on his head, much to his annoyance.

"Come on Toby, join the party!" Pinkie encouraged. "It's Gummy's birthday you know!"

"Not a really a party person anymore Pinkie. No offence." Toby told her, as he took off his head, Pinkie frowned a bit.

Applejack then approached him from below. "Aw, come on, little brother. You gotta have a little more fun, enjoy yourself, you know?"

"Yeah, well the lingering threats all over the place make it hard for me to enjoy myself, you know?" Toby said.

"Lingering threats? Where!?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, looking around wide eyed.

"Toby, there aren't any threats out there." Twilight tried to tell him. "Look around, the town is at peace."

"For now." Toby practically scoffed.

"Are you _always_ this paranoid?" Rainbow questioned.

"No… just when I realized how dangerous my job was." Toby reasoned. "And how much I need to protect you all."

"We don't need you to protect us Toby, we need you to be our _friend_." Twilight stated, firmly.

"Yes, don't you see that you are behaving more and more like you're older self?" Rarity pointed out.

Toby looked a bit hurt by this but continued to maintain a stoic look. "If you feel _that_ strongly why not tell my Mom or Aunt?"

"Well… we were hoping that… _we_ mattered enough to you to make you see that isn't that way you should be acting." Fluttershy admitted.

"Yeah, and that you should be partying and not pouting Mr. Pouty Pants!" Pinkie added.

"Hey, I'm trying to focus on finding a way to stop everything and everypony from being wiped out here." Toby stated. "Besides… parties are a waste of time right now…"

Pinkie Pie gasped at this, and then loses it, as she roared, "NOBODY SAYS MY PARTIES ARE A WASTE OF TIME!"

Both Applejack and Rarity quickly grabbed her and her back as she tried to jump and attack Toby, which made him flinch a bit.

"Whoa, easy there girl, easy…" Applejack tried to urge her. "He didn't mean it… you didn't mean it, right?"

"Uh…" That was all the eighteen-year old could mutter.

"Tobias… I would strongly advise taking back what you just said… I really would!" Rarity told him as she struggled to keep her friend down.

"Ok! Ok! I take it back! I really didn't mean it! Honest!" Toby exclaimed.

Pinkie growled for a few seconds then returned to her usual cheery demeanor. "Okey, dokey, lokey then!" she chirped before trotting away going 'La, la, la, la, la' while her friends watched her go looking very bewildered.

"Are you sure she's not bipolar?" Toby asked.

"I'll… look into it." Twilight said.

"In the mean time you gotta straighten up that attitude of yours sport, because right no you got the personality of a runny nose!" Applejack told him.

"Hey!" The eighteen-year old protested.

Feeling the situation getting more and more tense Spike finally spoke up with the hopes of easing it a bit.

"Uh… Toby? Could I talk to you alone for a minute?" Spike asked.

"Sure." Toby shrugged as he rolled off the branch and landed on his feet. "Come on, let's go."

"Right behind you!" Spike said as he ran after Toby, who was beginning to proceed ahead.

Applejack sighed. "I know I've said it before and I'm gonna say it again; what are we gonna do with that boy?"

"He's just going to through a rough phase that's all." Twilight Sparkle stated. "And like I said before, we need to help him through this."

"Kinda hard if he acts like a total jerk all the time!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh, he doesn't mean it.' Fluttershy said. "He's just really afraid for us… I know I am…"

"You know I never really though the boy was scared of anything." Applejack confessed.

"But he _is_, he's afraid of losing us or getting us hurt." Twilight stated.

"Well, we must show him that he doesn't _need_ to worry about us getting hurt!" Rarity declared.

"And… _how_ do we do that?" Applejack asked.

"I… don't have any idea." Rarity admitted. The girls then began to sit there and ponder what they should do.

* * *

Elsewhere, Toby and Spike were standing near the lake where some ponies either relaxed by or swam in. With each minute passed they each took turns skipping rocks across the water before they sunk while talking at the same time.

"You know, you could try to be a little nicer around them." Spike stated to his only human friend.

Toby arched an eyebrow, "I thought I _was_ being nice."

Spike frowned at him, "You told Pinkie Pie her parties were a waste of time."

"Right now, it's a waste of time," Toby stated, tossing a rock across the lake. "We just saw the future and it doesn't look good if we don't take this seriously, and stop doing stupid stuff."

Spike then pointed out, "To Pinkie Pie, her parties_ are_ serious."

Toby sighed, "You know what I mean, Spike."

"I do, but you gotta lighten up on this situation. I know you're trying to be a bit more serious and responsible an all, but you're taking it way too hard, don't you see that?" Spike pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah…" Toby said tiredly, as he knew he was right deep down.

"And there's another thing I wanna talk about." Spike pointed out. "You've also avoided any town gatherings, appearances, you even denied an invitation to the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala."

"Spike, I told you; the future is at stake, and you're stating that I might as well let it start already." Toby stated. he then grumbled and tossed a rock into the lake hard, "Besides, I go to those things, and my ego will over-inflate. I mean, think about it. that happened to Rainbow Dash, until the Mysterious Mare Do Well put her in her place again."

Spike thought about it, and then grumbled, as he remembered what happened, "You have a point there." but then he looked to him, and stated, "But your furthering yourself away even more. It's like you don't even care about them anymore."

"I do care." Toby stated, seeming rather hurt by that idea.

Spike nodded, "Yeah, but it's like you're not even there."

"My presence tends to attract trouble remember?" Toby reminded him.

"Not just you, bad things happened to us even _before_ you got here." Spike stated. "And not just the stuff we told you."

"Really?" Toby asked, surprised.

"Yeah…" Spike confirmed.

"Ouch." Toby grimaced.

"Somepony must have put a _curse_ on us…" Spike muttered under his breath.

"You know… when I left six months ago I tried to forget everything about this place." Toby admitted to a sad looking Spike as he skipped another rock across the lake. "I guess that kinda included you. And I'm sorry about that… I just needed to clear my head"

"Ah, you don't have to explain anything to me, buddy." Spike assured him. "Don't forget, I know what you've gone through… and we both got dumped by our folks. But at least _your_ Dad is nice."

"Yeah, I know." Toby nodded. "And you knew that _Tirek_ was the one who put you there?

"I'll say… but I still don't know what happened to me parents." Spike admitted. "But whatever, I try not to think about it."

"How's that working out for ya?" Toby questioned.

"Perfectly…" Spike muttered.

"Fantastic." Toby said.

"So what's the next event that that list told you to prevent?" Spike inquired.

"I don't know…" Toby admitted. "I've been meaning to take a look at it, hold on."

Toby reached into his pocket and took out the scroll his older self from the future gave him but before he could read it, he and Spike heard the sound of wings beating and somepony coming towards them. They turned and one of the Castle Guard Pegasi floating down towards them. He then landed in front of the young Prince.

"Prince Toby, sir!" The guard said.

"Don't call me that." Toby told him, annoyed.

"Apologizes your highness." The guard nodded. "But we have some important news we knew you would want to hear."

"What is it?" The half human inquired, as he handed Spike the list.

"We've just gotten reports that a village near Pony has been mysteriously cleaned out. All residents seem to have fled and the village is in ruins." The first guard said.

"Who did this?" Toby asked.

"It was the dragon known as Garble and his cohorts, they just escaped Tartarus prison earlier today." The other guard replied.

"Why didn't you tell the Princess? Or Luna?' Toby inquired.

"Given your history with him, we felt that _you_ should be informed first and then relay the information to your biological mother and aunt." The guard said.

"Great, now _everypony _knows…" Toby remarked, dismayed.

"I'm sure it's just a few guards." Spike said.

"For now." Toby countered. He turned to the guards. "Now where is Garble now?"

"We don't know, we were hoping you could locate them. Can you?"

"I can…" Toby said, before turning to the horizon. "I just need a little help."

* * *

At the same time, the girls were still in the same spot as they were nearly an hour ago and still thinking of a way to help Toby and to show him that he doesn't need to worry about them all the time and so far it doesn't look like any of them have had much luck.

Pinkie's face then lit up as soon as a record player that had somehow appeared beside her played a high note. "I got it!" she cried.

"It can't involve riding a pedal copter or giant sharks…" Applejack said, dully.

"I don't got it…" The pink pony said as Twilight used her magic to wind back the record player.

Just then Toby, with Spike holding on to his shoulders, zipped up to all six of them, kicking up a bit of dust once he arrived.

"Girls!" he said.

"Well, if it isn't captain snippy." Rainbow remarked a bit sourly.

"Not now Rainbow, just listen please. Ok, first off, Pinkie; I'm sorry for what I said. Secondly… I need your help girls." The half-human said.

"Our help?" Applejack echoed.

"Yeah, bad news; Garble is back." Toby announced.

"Garble!? As in the jerk of dragon who likes to smash kids and make us miserable?" Rainbow questioned.

"The very one." Toby nodded.

"Haven't seen him in a while…" Twilight added.

"Yeah, I thought you locked him up and threw away the key after what he did last time." Applejack remarked to Toby.

"Apparently I didn't throw it far enough." Toby stated. "And now he and his buddies are free."

"And their causing big trouble everywhere they go." Spike added.

"Oh dear…" Fluttershy mused.

"And to catch him… I need all of your help." Toby told them.

"Really? You want us to come along?" Twilight asked, surprised.

"Well you want me to be more social… this social enough for ya?" Toby inquired.

"Absolutely!" Pinkie nodded.

"But aren't you worried about us getting hurt?" Rarity pointed out.

"I am, but right now I'm trusting you guys to take care of yourselves… which I kind of should of done earlier…" Toby admitted.

"You can count on us, Toe!" Rainbow declared, saluting him. "So where to first?"

"The last known location of the three dragon idiots; it's a small town not too far from here that was just cleared out." Toby said.

"Cleared out? How?" Twilight questioned.

"That's what we're gonna find out." Tobias stated.

"Alright! Mystery time!" Pinkie Pie cried as she went down and popped back up wearing a Sherlock Homes like outfit. She then blew bubbles from her little pipe.

"Pinkie… why are you dressed like Sherlock Homes?" Toby asked, in a deadpan tone.

"Who?" The Pink Pony inquired.

"Never mind. Let's go." Toby said as he began to lead the others away from the clearing and towards the town that was cleared out.

* * *

Later, Toby and the gang finally reached their destination and they were shocked by what they saw.

The town looked completely deserted. Not abandoned, but cleared out; the whole town had cleared out in a hurry. paper blew on the streets, scattered by the wind. doors were left unlocked and opened, while possessions were laid about, strewn in the house. It was almost as if the whole town had left in not just a hurry, but in a panicked state, since they left so little lying around. The place was a certified ghost town.

"Whoa… talk about _bleak_." Spike commented.

"What _happened_ here…?" Twilight breathed.

"Garble… Garble happened." Toby growled.

They all began to look around the abandoned town. Judging from the faint burn marks on the houses and the ash on the ground it was safe for all them to assume that dragons used their flame to help them out in scaring the townspeople.

Applejack held up a cracked up family photo. "Well whoever was here sure did leave in a hurry," she remarked.

"That much is clear." Toby nodded.

"And made quite a mess of the place…" Rarity remarked, looking at a dusty and destroyed house in disgust.

"That… is not helpful Rarity. True… but not helpful." Toby stated.

"Toby…" Twilight warned him.

"Sorry." The half-human apologized.

"Wish we knew more about what happened and how many left…" Spike mused.

"I think I can do that…" The purple unicorn behind him said. Twilight then used her magic to teleport a piece of paper in front of her.

"Ooh! What's that? And why is the paper so pretty?" Pinkie asked.

"It's sort of like a log that shows what the population of each town is, it's constantly being updated." Twilight explained.

"So… what's _this one_ say?" Fluttershy asked.

"Hmm… according to this… out of the nine hundred ponies living in this part of Equestria…" Twilight began before her eyes widen. "Only four hundred are still accounted for."

The other's eyes all widen in surprise as well.

"Only four hundred?" Toby asked.

"That's what it says." Twilight confirmed. "And of course, the whole town of ponies that lived here are among those unaccounted for…"

"Well I'll be! How could a dozen ponies just take all their stuff and leave like that?" Applejack wondered. "And without telling anypony?"

"Well there are _dragons_ on the loose." Rainbow Dash pointed out. "And they are pretty scary."

"_Very_ scary…" Fluttershy shivered, her fear of dangerous dragons taking full effect on her poor psyche.

"I'd hardly call Garble and his lackey's the scary and threatening type, _especially_ these days." Rarity stated.

"Agreed." Toby nodded.

"That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous." Twilight Sparkle told her.

"Also agreed." The red-head added.

"Yeah, they're super mean, making other ponies leave like that!" said Pinkie.

"Well maybe they _didn't_ leave." Toby said.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well dragon's aren't exactly herbivores like you guys." Toby pointed out. "Then again neither am I, but I eat both veggies _and_ meat."

"You mean they…" Fluttershy began fearfully.

"It's a possibility." Toby stated. Fluttershy began to whimper and tear up a bit. "Or they simply ran off, we don't know for sure. Don't worry."

"That's right, like he said it's just a theory." Twilight added. "The point is we have to find them before they really _do_ hurt anypony."

"Agreed." Toby nodded. "For the third time in a row…"

"Yeah, but how we find them?" Applejack wondered.

"I have no idea…" Toby shrugged.

"Twilight?" Spike asked the pony who hatched him.

"Hmm, what we need is a _very_ powerful locator spell…" Twilight stated. "But only high level unicorns and alicorn's can perform it. I could try… but I don't think I'd be able to move for a week…"

"Which means… we'll have to get help from…" Rainbow began.

"Oh no! We are _not_ asking _her_ for help!" Toby said, stubbornly.

"Aw, come on, Toby!" Pinkie said. "You can't _still_ be mad at her, can you?"

"Yeah." Toby replied, bluntly.

"It's been over a year since you two talked personally, don't you think it's time to start repairing that burnt bridge?" Applejack inquired to him.

"Indeed! You wouldn't _believe_ how worried the Princess was when you left town for six straight months." Rarity added.

"And I appreciate that but you can't exactly blame me for being mad, can you?" Toby questioned. "What if it was one of you? How would you guys feel?"

"Well…" Fluttershy began, unsure of what to say.

"Um…" Spike continued, also looking unsure.

"That's what I thought." Toby stated.

"Ok. I admit part of me _would_ be pretty hurt by it if it were me, after all the Princess is my teacher and if kept a secret like _that_ from me for so long… I don't know what I'd do." Twilight admitted.

"Welcome to my world." Toby said.

"But I know forgiveness is _extremely_ important, otherwise… I would lose a really important friend in my life…" Twilight finished.

"Look sport, we're not asking you to like it or forgive her right away, you just… have to work with her on this." Applejack told him.

"After all, she _is_ our only chance in finding those ruffians." Rarity added.

"And the guards did tell us to relay the information to her after all." Spike pointed out.

"I know, I know…" Toby muttered, reluctantly.

"So… should I mail the Princess let her and Princess Luna know that were coming?" Spike asked, a bit meekly.

Toby sighed. "Do it."

Spike nodded, got out his quill and paper and started writing.

"That was very mature of you Toby, I'm proud of you." Twilight told him.

"Yeah… guess desperate times all for even more desperate measures." Toby admitted.

"Great!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "Oh, this is gonna be so exciting!"

"Yeah, 'yay'." Toby muttered, waving his finger around sarcastically.

As he and his friends began to leave the apparent ghost town, they were completely unaware that they were being watched by three figures in the shadows.

"Well, what do you know? He took the bait." One remarked.

"So we gonna follow them?" Another asked.

"Oh yeah, and then revenge will _finally_ be ours!" The apparent leader of the three declared. The trio of figures laughed evilly before sinking back into the shadows.

* * *

Sometime later, inside Princess Luna and Celestia's throne room, two guards had just entered and bowed in respect to the Princess' before speaking.

"Your majesties, Twilight Sparkle, her friends and your son, Prince Toby, have arrived." One of the guards informed the two royal figures.

"Don't call me that!" They heard Toby call out from afar.

"They wish to speak with you. They say it is urgent." The other one said.

Princess Celestia sighed a brief sigh then nodded. "Very well, send them in, please."

The guards bowed again then turned to the doors.

"You may all enter now."

Then one by one, Twilight, Toby, Spike and the gang all entered the throne room to greet their rulers while the guards went outside and closed the doors so that they could continue guarding.

"Princess Celestia. Princess Luna." Twilight smiled warmly as everypony besides Toby bowed at the sight of their Princess.

"Welcome my little ponies." Celestia said.

"Yes, it is very good to see you all again." Luna added

Princess Celestia then turned her attention to her still estranged son who was giving her a serious look, like he didn't want to be there but he knew he had to and the Princess knew it which made her sad deep down.

"Tobias." Princess Celestia nodded.

"Celestia." Toby responded, nonchalantly.

Everypony then glanced back and forth between their friend, Toby, and their Princess, Celestia, tensions between the two still seemed to be high and nopony wanted to say the wrong thing and accidently make the situation more worse than it already was.

"Awkward!" Pinkie said in a sing-song voice which caused everypony to glare at her.

Toby turned to Luna and seemed to be a bit more happy to see her then his biological mother. "Aunt Luna, pleasure to see you again," he said.

"Likewise, my faithful student slash nephew." Luna nodded.

Toby then noticed a new stained glass image close by, it was a picture of him and Twilight attacking each other with their best attacks during their final battle which occurred nearly one year ago. He frowned at it.

"Does that _really_ need to be advertised?" he questioned. Twilight then turned away with a shameful look on her face.

"Apologises, but the ones in charge of these do enjoy creating images that center around important events, such as this." Celestia explained.

"You mean the day me and Twilight nearly killed each other?" Toby asked, flatly.

"No. The day where everypony saw just how strong your bond with Twilight truly is." Princess Celestia stated. "It seems that day to two showed that you both aren't just friends… but possibly something more."

Toby and Twilight glance at each other with a smile and blush while Rainbow frowned, obviously looking very jealous.

"So anyway… about our presence here…" Toby began before something flew across the throne room and swooped down to land on top of Toby's head. It was fiery red bird known as a Phoenix and her name was Philomena.

"Gah! What the heck!?" The human exclaimed, caught off guard. He then began to hop around and struggle to get the bird off his head. "Get it off! Get it off!"

Everypony could only laugh in amusement as Toby continued to run around in circles while trying to get the phoenix that was on his head off, but it wouldn't budged and seemed to be humming a sweet hum as it rubbed the top of his head, indicating that it liked him.

"I see you have met Philomena." Celestia observed.

"Philomena?" Toby asked.

"Her pet phoenix, I once took care of it, although I didn't know it was a phoenix at the time." Fluttershy admitted.

"Great… now uh… could you get this thing off me?" Toby asked, a bit annoyed as he pointed to the fiery bird on his head.

Princess Luna giggled a bit. "I think she likes you."

"Yeah… must be my magnetic personality." Toby grumbled.

"More likely it's because you have the same scent as the Princess, being her son and all." Twilight stated.

"Again… great. Wish the feeling was mutual though…" Toby muttered as she tried to shake the bird off his head but failed. "Aw, come on! I know I _smell_ like the Princess but that doesn't mean you get to have a death grip on my skull!"

"Oh, don't be so rude Tobias, she just wants to have a little fun with you." Rarity told him.

"Yeah, you still know how to have _that_ don't ya, sport?" Applejack questioned.

"Yes! Just not like this!" Toby stated.

"Then like how then?" Pinkie Pie asked him. "Huh? Mister 'Parties are a waste of time'?"

"I said I was sorry!" Toby said. "What else do you want?"

"What we 'want' is for you to not take things so darn seriously all the time!" Rainbow stated.

"Maybe _you_ don't take things seriously enough!" Toby countered.

"We do too!" Twilight Sparkle defended.

"Hardly! I often feel like I'm the only sane person on this team!" Toby proclaimed.

"Now you see hear…" Rarity began before the situation quickly escalated into a shouting match between the eight friends, while Philomena pecked at Toby's head like a vulture. Celestia sighed while Luna began to concentrate as best she can by this time, and now she spoke up.

"QUIET!"

Her yell, imitating the 'Royal Canterlot Voice; echoed in the silent throne room and shut everypony else up very quickly. Eight pairs of angry eyes are turned her way for some moments before she could come up with any more words.

Luna then waved timidly. "Hi."

"So… do you have anything to say for your yourselves?" Celestia asked, sternly as they all looked at each other apologetically.

"Sorry…" Toby muttered, shamefully.

"Yeah, us too…" Rainbow muttered

"Really sorry." Fluttershy nodded as everypony else also nodded in agreement as well.

"Great, now could you get this thing off of me?" Toby asked, gesturing to the bird pecking at him. Celestia then levitated her away.

"Excellent, now… do you think you can tell us why you are all here?" Princess Celestia asked, curiously.

"Ah, right, that." Toby remembered as he cleared his throat. "Well the guards just reported of an incident in a town near Ponyville and told me to rely it to you after doing a thorough investigation."

"An incident?" Princess Luna echoed.

"And what have you learned?" Princess Celestia asked.

"It seems that the whole town had been cleared out… and in a hurry as well." Toby replied.

"Not to mention over half the pony living that area have disappeared without a trace." Twilight added.

"Disappeared?" Celestia inquired.

"Yeah, and we think Garble and his guys caused it." Spike stated.

"Garble the Evil Dragon? I thought he was imprisoned." Luna said.

"So did we, but apparently he escaped." Toby told her.

"And where is he now?" Celestia questioned.

"I don't know… but I have a feeling their _close_." Toby reasoned.

Just after he said this Spike noticed something big and fiery heading their way. His eyes widened when he realized it was a giant fireball and that it was aimed straight at the throne room. He spoke quickly.

"Uh… guys?" he said. They turn to him and notice him pointing at the window. It is then that they notice the ball of fire and gasp.

"Get back!" Toby yelled as he held his hands out and created a magical barrier. However once the fireball crashed through the wall of the throne room and broke pretty much every breakable object around it also shattered the barrier and sent them all flying into the wall behind them.

Toby and the others all groaned in sheer pain as they reeled from the force of the blast and struggled to get back up. A high pitched noise rang in all their ears.

"Everypony… ok?" The sole half-human asked. They nod in confirmation, much to his relief. Then Fluttershy noticed something that made her gasp.

"Look!" she cried.

Everypony glanced upward and saw that Princess Celestia's phoenix was now trapped in a small ball of magical energy, preventing her from escaping.

"Philomena!" Celestia cried in despair. She looked greatly distraught seeing her pet struggle to break free and crying out for help.

"Who in the blue blazes…" Applejack began before somepony else spoke up.

"Surprise!"

Pinkie Pie then jumped up. "Ooh! A surprise? Where? Where?" she asked, looking around eagerly.

"Right _here_, brah!"

They all looked ahead and to their surprise they saw Garble and his friends flying out of the thick blanket of smoke in front of them. What was really surprising was that they now looked more muscular and had glowing rune like symbols on their shoulders, face and back and Garble's clawed hand was glowing with a mint green aura. They all chuckled evilly at Toby, Spike and the Pony gang.

"Garble." Toby hissed.

"Did you miss us, Morrison?" Garble asked, smugly.

"No. Not especially." Toby said, coldly.

"Ooh, frosty!" The surfer dragon said, mockingly. "What's the matter, monkey boy? Too scared to crack a little joke?"

"You _wish_." Toby told them, narrowing his eyes.

"Doubt it." Garble sneered at the human.

"Garble!" Spike yelled, catching their attention.

"Hey, long time no see Spike." Garble smirked. "How are ya, Peewee?"

Spike just scowled at them in response. Then Twilight noticed his glowing claws and quickly figured out that they were using magic, something that deeply shocked her.

"Hey, how are you even _doing_ that?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "Dragons can't do magic like that!"

"Oh this?" Garble asked, glancing at his glowing claws. "Just a little gift from a certain someone."

"Who?" Toby questioned.

"Someone who hates you _way_ more than _we_ do." The surfer dragon stated.

"_Way_ more." The big dragon added.

"I'm guessing he gave you those markings on your bodies?" Toby questioned.

"Bingo!" Garble nodded.

"How _dare_ you try to hurt my Philomena!" Celestia said, upset.

"Oh you _bet_ we dare, and there's _nothing_ you can do about it!" Garble smirked, evilly.

"Give her back you bullies!" Fluttershy told them, looking angry which was rare for her. "Or…"

Garble then gave her an evil look which made her shook in fear as his two yellow eyes gleamed. "Or what?" he snapped.

"Or we're gonna unleash Toby on you!" Pinkie declared.

"Yeah! Wait what?" Toby asked.

"You heard us, go fight!" Rainbow Dash told him.

"So what? I'm your own personal weapon now?" Toby inquired both flatly and insulted.

"Yep! Good luck!" Spike said, as pushed Toby forward closer towards the three dragons.

"So… you gonna fight us?" Garble questioned, smirking evilly.

"Uh…" Toby began before Celestia suddenly stepped forward.

"No. He won't," she said.

"Celestia?" Toby asked, surprised.

"So what do _you_ want Princess?" Garble demanded. "Your birdie?

"Yes! Give her to me… _now_." Celestia demanded.

"Or _what_?" Garble asked, clearly not afraid.

"I am warning you…if you don't give her to me now or harm her in any way I will…" Princess Celestia started to say, angrily until Toby stopped her that is. He seemed to have figured something out.

"No Princess! That's just what they want." Toby stated.

"What they want?" Twilight echoed.

"Yeah, they want to start a _war_." Toby declared. He turned to Garble and the other dragons. "Isn't that right?"

"Oh yeah." Garble smiled.

"How do you know that?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

Spike held up the piece of paper. "It's on the list."

"That's right, just checked it." Toby nodded.

"But why would they want to start a war with us?" Applejack questioned.

"Ain't none of your business, pony!" Garble snapped.

"Yeah!" The other two dragons added.

"Look, we don't have to do this Garble." Toby said. "Stand down, hand over the bird and face judgement for your crimes. While you still can."

Garble thought for a bit and then said… "Nah."

Toby's eyes narrowed. "I'm trying to be _generous_ here, dragon."

"We don't need your generosity." Garble growled.

"Oh, but you _do_, trust me." Rarity stated.

"Yeah, you got as much luck as those loser pones did in that one town we burnt down." Garble sneered.

Toby growled. "Speaking of which, what did you _do_ to all those ponies in that town?" he demanded.

"Who me? I told them to take a hike." Garble answered with an evil smirk. "I'm lying. Or I'm not. You choose."

"Careful, my mercy has its limits." Toby warned him.

"So does mine." Garble snarled.

"You have mercy?" Pinkie Pie asked, innocently before a growl from Garble made her shut up.

"Hey! Back off!" Toby snapped.

"Or what? You gonna do something about it?" Garble questioned, mockingly. "Maybe go crying home to Mommy and tell her on us?"

The dragons all laughed while Toby's hands shook and glowed with fury as his magical energy built up.

"Why don't you do tell your boss to 'take a hike' and fight _me_! Leave everypony else out of this!" Toby declared. "I may not like that bird, but I'm taking her back one way or another!"

"Hey! We're not messenger dragons, alright?" Garble growled. "We're _delivery_ dragons."

"Oh yeah?" Toby questioned.

"Yeah!" Garble stated.

"Ok, I'm done talking." Toby declared. "Time for brawling!"

Toby used his super strength to zoom towards Garble and his gang, ready to strike only to knocked down due to the red dragon himself clotheslining him. He others wince as he fell flat on his back sent rolling across the ground via kick to the side. Though he quickly dodged an incoming fireball attack by rolling out of the way, he still seemed very sore and exhausted.

"Aw, would you look at that, dudes. He actually thought we'd be just pushovers!" Garble remarked, mockingly. "Too bad!"

As Garble and his friend's rune symbols glowed brightly their muscles then began to expand in six and they also gained sharper teeth, spines and pointed spikes on their arms, shoulders and back, much to the shock of everypony watching. When they finished transforming they sighed a deep sigh and smiled evilly.

"Let's take 'em down, boys!" Garble exclaimed.

The three dragons then began to run on all fours as they snarled and roared while dashing towards him like wild animals.

"Uh… Toe?" Applejack began

"No worries I got this!" Toby assured them before he began to charge towards them as well.

The rest of the gang all watched and winced as sounds of fighting were heard vividly in front of them as the three dragons continued to gang up and pound Toby while dodging nearly every blow he tried to land on them.

"Oh my… shouldn't we help him?" Fluttershy wondered.

Luna shook her head. "No, he prefers it this way," she stated.

"But he's getting pulverized!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as Toby was thrown into a wall. He then ducked once he saw Garble attempting to strike him and just as Garble struck the wall he knocked him back with a kick to the side but was tackled back into the wall by the other two.

He tried to kick them back with both of his feet by they grabbed him and threw him over their shoulders and onto the floor. He flipped back onto his feet and tried fighting them again but every time he tried to land a blow they easily dodged and struck back, like they knew exactly what was gonna happen the whole time. Eventually they knock Toby back towards his friends.

"They know every move I'm gonna make!" Toby griped.

"But how can that be?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"I don't know, but is, and I don't like it…" Toby muttered.

"Just be careful, you might end up hurting Philomena." The Princess of the Sun advised him.

Toby then dodged a swipe of Gable's long claws. "Or they'll hurt _me!_" he pointed out.

"Do you acquire assistance?" Celestia called out as Toby continued to wrestle with all three of the dragons.

"NO! I don't need help for this! Especially from _you_." Toby stated, firmly.

"Bitter." Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack who nodded in agreement.

"Oh, but you _do_ need help against _us_, pipsqueak!" Garble told him.

"Yeah, we got future knowledge!" The surfer dragon exclaimed.

"Yeah, future knowledge!" The big one said with a laugh before Garble slapped them upside the head.

"Shut up!" he hissed.

Toby raised a brow. "Future Knowledge? What are you talking about?"

"Uh… that's need to know only!" Garble stated. "Now it's time to clean your clock!"

Garble, Toby and the other dragons prepared to fight. Then Toby noticed Philomena and realized that they could end up hurting her if they continued to fight in the throne room. He then then thought fast.

"Uh… Look a shooting star!" Toby cried, pointing to the left.

"Where? Where? I want to see it!" Pinkie said, looking around. The dragons then turned around.

"Gotcha!" Toby said as he ran over to Philomena, broke through her cage, grabbed her then tucked and rolled as he crashed through the window and crash landed into the ground below. Everypony gasped, alarmed as they rushed over and looked out the giant hole in made and down towards the little crater he created.

"TOBY!" They cried.

Toby groaned as he came to, apart from all of his limbs feeling like they were on fire he seemed unharmed, as did Philomena.

"You ok?" Toby asked the phoenix, who caws in response, before the dragons then jumped down and landed near him.

"But _you_ won't be!" Garble promised.

Toby allowed Philomena to fly back to Celestia before standing up and facing the three dragons again. It is at that moment that Pinkie gets an idea.

"Hey Toby! I know how you can beat them!" Pinkie called out.

"Yeah? How?" Toby asked.

"Simple! If your old moves don't work… try some new ones!" The pink pony suggested.

Toby's face lit up as Pinkie's suggestion lit up an idea in his own head. "Yeah… that could work!" he realized. "But first I need a way to rid them of whatever charm is making them strong… and I don't know that kind of spell…"

The young eighteen-year-old boy's eyes then lit up as he turned and looked up towards Celestia. "Princess! Can you undo whatever spell is making them more powerful?"

"Yes… Why?" The Princess asked her son.

"Because I _need_ you!"

Princess Celestia looked down towards Toby surprised. "You need me?" she asked.

"_Yes_! I need _you_. You are the only hope that I have at surviving this!" The boy said. "I thought I could do it alone… but I can't! I know that now!"

"He needs me…" Celestia mused.

"Yes! I need you. I need you _please_!" Toby practically begged before the dragons grabbed him again.

Seeing her son in danger lit a fire inside Celestia as she flew up, her horn glowing brightly with a bright yellow flash that radiated over them all and slowly but surely causing the ruin marks on Garble and his goons to vanish.

"Hey… what's happening? No! No!" Garble cried as his strength disappeared. Then Celestia blasted them with a magical beam that sent them all rolling across the grass and into a pile. They groan in pain.

"Nice shot." Toby complimented his biological mother as she landed next to him.

"I assume you can handle things from here?" Princess Celestia asked her son.

Toby cracked his knuckles. "Oh yeah."

Garble gulped as Toby approached him. "Uh-oh…"

"Uh-oh, is right." Toby smirked as he charged toward Garble and kicked him upside the jaw, sending him soaring away. He then clotheslined the other two and knocked them back as well. The three dragons all got up and roared as they ran over and tried to fight him but this time Toby dodged them and managed to strike back using new moves that resembled dance moves. He jabbed, kicked and punched each of them while they couldn't land a single blow.

"Look! Toby's actually getting to them!" Spike exclaimed.

"Well what do you know? He actually managed to turn _dance moves_ into kung fu moves!" Rainbow Dash remarked.

Toby then kicked them all away again, jumped into the air and launched a magical blast at the three dragons, creating a big explosion. When the smoke finally cleared, all three of the dragons were laying on the ground defeated and looking quite sore.

"He did it! He won!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

"I knew he would." Applejack smiled, proudly.

"Yeah, like was their ever a _doubt_?" Rainbow Dash remarked.

"Never for a second." Rarity shook her head.

"At least he's ok." Twilight said, relieved.

"Yes. Thanks to you sister." Princess Luna told Celestia, who smiled proudly.

"Yeah, I think he's finally starting to forgive you!" Spike added. "Well… maybe."

"I suppose only time will tell…" Celestia mused.

At the same time, Toby was walking over to the three defeat dragons and loomed over them. They looked up towards him, still looking sore while Toby stared at them with a serious expression while Philomena flew over and rested on his shoulder.

"Maybe you have forgotten something: I'm Toby Morrison, savior of Equestria and bearer of the Rainbow of Light. I stopped Lord Tirek's invasion, I defeated Discord the Lord of Chaos and I've beaten you dragons more times than I can count. Here's what's going to happen: you're going to leave this bird alone. You're going to crawl back to wherever you came from, and you're going to stop hurting other ponies because if you don't, I promise, you'll regret it for the rest of your _Very._ Short. Lives. Are we clear?" Toby question in an ice cold tone.

"Yeah… yeah… we're clear. Oh, we are so, _so_ clear." Garble said, scared.

Toby simply pushed him back with a steely expression. "Good," he said.

Garble and his friends scooted far away from Toby with scared expressions as they shook with absolute fear.

"Now do us all a favor and get out of here, got it?" Toby told them.

"Yeah, yeah, we're leaving!" Garble nodded. "See ya!"

Garble and his cronies then spread their wings and jumped into the air. They all watched as the trio of dragons all flew off into the distance as fast as they could. Rainbow, Pinkie and the rest all then teleported down to the ground floor and rushed over as they watched them fly off.

"Yeah! Just fly away!" Rainbow Dash called out.

"Come back, cowards!" Pinkie added.

"Excellent job Tobias, you actually managed to stop a war." Luna told her nephew.

"Yeah… and now the future's probably looking a little brighter." Toby stated.

"I hope so." Twilight Sparkle said

"And Celestia… thank you." Toby said to his mother. "For being there to save me when I needed you."

"Not a problem. And just remember that I will _always _be there for you when you need me, just like your friends will _always _be there for _you._" The Princess said to him.

Toby smiled a bit at her and his friends as they all continued to look out towards the horizon together, watching the three cowardly dragons fly off back to wherever it was they came from. However unknown to them, all three of the dragons had big and evil grins on their faces as they continued to fly off.

* * *

The next day was a typical one for the girls who had all gathered at a little grassy clearing along with Spike. They seemed to be a bit unsure as to why they were there in the first place.

"So… does anypony know what this is all about?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know, I thought Applejack here called us." Twilight Sparkle confessed.

"Wasn't me. Honest." Applejack said.

"Or me." Fluttershy added.

"Or me!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "I wish it was me!"

"Well I wish whoever it was would show himself and explain!" Rarity stated.

"I think I know who…" Spike mused before a black and red blur ran over and appeared in front of them. They saw that it was Toby showing his usual smile and carrying a picnic basket.

"Get your things ladies, it's picnic time!" Toby announced. They all look at Toby surprised.

"You're _kidding_ right?" Rainbow asked.

"I thought you still had a list to figure out." Applejack commented.

"I do. I know. But right now I want to spend as much time as I can with you guys." Toby told them, honestly. "After all… I don't know when I might lose you all… so I want to make our time together worthwhile."

Twilight approached him with an assuring look. "Toby… you will _never_ lose us, I promise," she said.

"Pinkie Promise?" The pink pony asked.

The purple unicorn nodded. "Pinkie Promise."

"Great!" Pinkie cheered.

"Alright then, you all in?" Toby asked. The girls cheered in response. "I'll take that as a 'yes', I'll get it set up now."

As he said this Spike noticed something on the list he still carried with him and his eyes widened.

"Uh… we'll be right there!" Spike told him.

"Cool." Toby shrugged as he walked over to set up the picnic and with him now out of ear range the girls all gathered around Spike.

"What's wrong Spike?" Twilight asked him.

"Yeah, you look like ya just saw a ghost." Applejack remarked.

"And not the friendly kind!" Pinkie Pie added.

"Uh… guys?" Spike spoke up to the girls. "I think we have a problem?"

"What now?" Rainbow asked annoyed.

"It's the list… that event… about a dragon-pony war starting… it hasn't vanished yet!" Spike informed them.

"What!?" They all exclaimed as Spike held up the list to their faces.

"See for yourself," The baby dragon said. The girls looked closely and saw that he was right, that particular event still hadn't vanished like the others did.]

"Oh my…" Rarity breathed.

"Equestria… we have a problem." Applejack muttered.

"What does it mean?" Fluttershy asked.

"What do you think?" The blue Pegasus questioned.

"It's not over yet…" The purple unicorn mused.

"So… are we gonna tell Toby?" The pink pony inquired.

"No." Twilight stated.

"No?" They all said at once.

"Not yet, right now I just want him to be happy, seeing Toby like this is rare these days… and seeing this… I don't know what it'll do to him." Twilight Sparkle said.

"So you want us to _lie_ to him!?" Rainbow practically demanded.

"Only until the time is right." Twilight told them.

"He's not a boy anymore, Twilight." Rarity said to her. "If he figures this out and realizes we didn't tell him…

"He may never forgive us." Fluttershy added.

"I don't like this either, but it's a necessary evil we _all_ have to make." Twilight Sparkle declared. "We don't have to keep it from him for long just… for now, ok?"

The others all exchanged glances feeling very conflicted, they knew they were lying to one of their closest friends but they also each wanted to spend as much time as they could with the small bit of the old Toby as they could before he became brooding and serious again, which lead them to make their decision.

"Ok." They all said and nodded.

Twilight knew in her heart of hearts that it would be easy for any of them, but it was had to be done, for Toby's sake, for now…

* * *

Meanwhile, in a mountainous region far away from Equestria, dozens of dragon encircled a large mountain that almost resembled a castle in a way, only bigger, rockier and scarier.

Inside the rock castle, a smallish dragon entered an opening and began to make his way down a long tunnel. His scaly feet making scraping marks as they hit the rocky floor, that is until he steps into a very large chamber filled with gold coins and gems of all shapes and sizes. But it wasn't that treasures that got the small dragon to lose his calm expression, it was what was laying in it.

There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep; thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils, and wisps of smoke, but his fires were low in slumber. Beneath him, under all his limbs and his huge coiled tail, and about him on all sides stretching away across the unseen floors, lay countless piles of precious things, gold wrought and unwrought, gems and jewels, and silver red-stained in the ruddy light. The dragon laid, with wings folded like an immeasurable bat, turned partly on one side, so that the smaller dragon could see his underparts and his long pale belly crusted with gems and fragments of gold from his long lying on his costly bed.

"L-Lord Roark…?" The small dragon squeaked.

"What is it?"

"It is the young dragon Garble and his friends… they been defeated once again by a creature called… Toby, the son of Celestia."

"Toby… yes, I have heard of him…" Roark mused.

"My lord… they say the boy attacked them first… and that he is planning on declaring war on all dragons!" The little dragon servant said.

"WHAT!?

The Dragon King then roared as he emerged out of his sea of jewels and valuable trinkets, which all washed away in different directions, as if a bomb had just gone off in the middle of it. Roarek breathed a large gust of fire upward and then snarled as his eyes silted.

"If that boy thinks he can just smite us and take all our possessions so easily then he is sorely mistaken! If he wants a war… we'll _give_ him a war!" The Dragon King known as Roarek bellowed. As he continued to roar and breath fire, Sombra watched from afar and smirked before disappearing back into the shadows.

* * *

**Voices**

**Roarek: Benedict Cumberbatch **

**Author's Note: Roarek is inspired by Smaug.**


	6. Slaying the Dragon

**My Little Pony: The Human Chronicles**

**Episode 34: Slaying the Dragon**

In an a dark region, where heaven touches earth. Rocky mountains stretched out towards the sky. There were pointy rocks everywhere and little lava pits at the base of some of them. The perfect home for a dragon, which it technically was.

The biggest out of all the mountains resembled a castle in a way but was made entirely of rocks and was almost an evil version of Canterlot Castle, except it was bigger, rockier and scarier and surrounded by a sea of lava, which almost acted as a moat to keep out any unwanted guests. It was so big in fact, that any kind of dragon count fit inside. Including the king of all dragons himself; Roarek.

Inside, thunderous steps were heard approaching one of the many narrow openings in the stone castle. The sounds echoed the halls, almost like a cannon was going off. The clawed feet belonged to none other than the Dragon Knight himself who had just stepped out of his castle and looked over what appeared to be his army. An army made of thousands and thousands of killer dragons.

They were dragons of all shapes in sizes down below him. Some big, some smallish, some scary, and some just plain weird. Like the dragon known as Crackle, who made a loud snort and scratched behind his ear while the other dragons waited for their leader to talk.

"My fellow Dragons… by now most have you heard the news; the human known as Tobias Morrison, the son of Princess Celestia; ruler of Equestria herself, has declared war on us all and that I will _not_ tolerate!" Roarek declared. "Will you?"

"No!" They cried.

"Good. This boy has humiliated and disrespected us far too often, as such we cannot afford to lose another battle. We must wipe out all traces of Equestria from this world once and for all!" Roarek stated.

"And then we'll have all the gems?" A hungry looking dragon asked.

"Yes… we will." Roarek nodded. The hungry dragon cheered before a smaller dragon then stepped forward.

"But what if we fail?" he asked. Every dragon gasped at this and looked towards the weak looking dragon, including Roarek who simply glared and shot out a solid fireball at him which sent the poor dragon flying into the side of a mountain. He groaned. In pain.

"Failure… is _not_ an option." Roarek stated.

The other dragons all smiled in agreement.

"Dragons! Rise up and take off!" Roarek yelled. "Your target; Equestria! Now go and burn it to the ground!"

The entire dragon army roared and with a single beat of their massive wings they leapt into the sky and look off, all together they looked like a giant swarm of angry bees, only they were breathing fire and growling madly.

"Equestria will be _mine_!" Roarek said, laughing madly, not noticing Sombra lurking nearby and watching all the dragons fly off with an evil look on his face.

* * *

While the Dragon Army continued to make their way towards Equestria, more specifically Ponyville, the heroes of the land were currently dealing with another situation at the moment, a situation that involved the Diamond Dogs, whom Toby Morrison and Rainbow Dash were in the middle of beating up.

Toby then did a flying scissor sweep kick that knocked Rover far back while Rainbow Dash turned and bucked Fido in the chest which sent him flying straight towards the now fearful and screaming Spot, who ran around in circles before Fido finally landed on top of him. He groaned in pain.

Toby then tossed Rover onto the other two unconscious Diamond Dogs, who looked completely beaten up, bruised and were all groaning in pain.

"Is that all of them?" Toby asked, now wearing a red hoodie over a black jacket, black pants and black shoes. His hair also grown to half its original length.

"Yeah, that's all of them." Rainbow Dash confirmed. "Boy… these Diamond Dogs sure don't quit, do they?"

"No. No they do not." Toby stated.

"You think we were a little too hard on them?" Rainbow inquired.

"Hey, I told them I didn't want to fight." Toby shrugged, nonchalantly. "And I tried not to, but it was their choice. Simple as that."

"You have _serious_ problems these days, you know that?" Rainbow questioned.

"Yes." Toby responded. "Anyway, let's go. We'll let the Castle Guard clean up the mess."

"Ok then…" Rainbow said, slowly.

"Mister Morrison. Miss Dash."

They both turned and saw the Mayor herself approaching with two members of the castle guards by her side.

"Miss Mayor, good to see you." Toby nodded.

"Sup?" Rainbow asked, coolly.

"Well done Mister Morrison." Mayor Mare commented, observing his work. "You managed to capture the three escapees, minimal damage to the town and under thirty minutes."

"Aw, shucks Mayor, you're making me blush." Toby smirked a bit.

"Oh, give it a rest." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Alright sirs, take them away." The Mayor told the two guards who nod and proceed to drag away the three unconscious diamond dogs.

"Well… that's about all the bad guys in town. Time for some relaxing… for once." Toby declared.

"You? Relax?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yes. Despite what you might I do like chilling and not just fighting." Toby said.

"Hooray for you…" Rainbow muttered, sarcastically. "It's major breakthrough, but at least your happy and all…"

"Thank you, now to calm my heart beat." The half-human said as he sat down, got into a meditating pose, also known as the lotus position, which he used frequently. Then used his magic to levitate himself just a few feet off the ground, flipped himself the other way around and set himself back down with only his head keeping him up. Rainbow stared at him blankly.

"Are you meditating… upside down?" Rainbow asked him.

"Maybe. What of it?" Toby asked.

"It's kinda weird…" Rainbow Dash admitted.

"Hey, I do a lot of thinking upside down." Toby said.

"Seriously?" The Pegasus asked.

"Yeah, surprised me too." The human admitted.

"Well… why can't we just go find the others and hang out with them?" she asked.

"Loved to, but due to events beyond my control we I can't." Toby said, calmly.

"Like?" Rainbow asked.

"For starters AJ's got a lot of bucking to do, Rarity's making a ton of new dresses for Sapphire Shores, Fluttershy's tending to a sick bear, Pinkie's celebrating the Cake Twin's birthday and Twilight's reorganizing her books at the library." Toby answered. "I'd help but they gave me the day off from helping them, said I needed more relaxing and happy time, whatever that means."

"_I_ think I know what it means…" Rainbow mumbled.

"What?" The half-human asked, not catching what she said.

"Nothing!" The Pegasus responded quickly.

"Come on RD, relax, we're trying to have some vacation time here." Toby told her, calmly.

"Hey, I'm relaxed!" Rainbow stated.

"Right…" Toby said, unconvinced.

"I am!" The rainbow maned pony insisted.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure." Toby said to her, nonchalantly while Rainbow's face became red as she growled with anger. It was then that they heard the sound of somepony calling out and running straight for them. They turned and saw that it was Celestia's top student; Twilight Sparkle.

"Toby!" Twilight cried as she raced over to him.

"Twilight? What is the problem?" Toby asked.

"There's been… a fallout." The unicorn breathed.

"Nuclear?" Toby inquired

"_Dragon_ fallout." Twilight Sparkle stated.

"Dragon what?" Toby echoed, confused.

"Come on, I'll show you!" Twilight told him as she raced off. Toby and Rainbow both exchanged glances before running after her.

"What _is_ that?" Applejack asked, as she walked up to Toby. She pointed at the sky with her hoof.

With a stab of dread, Toby looked up.

"Trouble." Toby replied, dully as he, Spike and the girls stared at the approaching army of flying dragons that practically blotted out the sky. Bearing down on the peaceful town of Ponyville and zooming towards it like fighter jets.

Several ponies saw them and instantly began to panic and scream with the Mayor trying to calm everypony down and failing in the process

"Dragons…" The young man said, his voice hoarse.

"Oh, no…" Twilight Sparkle breathed.

"Golly! Look at them all…" Applejack remarked.

"So cool!" Rainbow Dash said in awe.

"And formidable!" Rarity added.

"And… super-duper scary!" Pinkie said, shaking in fear.

"Yeah, us dragons are _definitely_ a force to be reckoned with!" Spike stated.

"Uh-huh, well now those 'cool', 'formidable' and 'scary' beasts are trying to invade Equestria and kill us!" Toby pointed out, loudly. "Hello! Under attack her! Stop admiring them!"

"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Twilight apologized, sheepishly.

"An invading army of dragons… it's my number one nightmare!" Fluttershy cried, clearly distressed.

"I'd hate to see what your _number two_ worst nightmare is." Toby remarked.

"Ha-ha! You said…" Pinkie began.

"Don't even…" Rarity warned her.

"Guys! Focus! Dragon army approaching!" Twilight reminded them.

"Great. Just my luck… the second I start enjoying my vacation time, another threat tries to wipe us out." Toby muttered, dismayed.

"Yeah… life can sure can be lousy sometimes, huh?" Applejack said.

"You said it." Toby nodded.

"Then way are we just standing here, twiddling our hooves!? We gotta do something!" Rainbow Dash cried.

"How? There's too many of them!" Twilight Sparkle pointed out.

"There's no such thing as too many." Toby reasoned. "We just need to push them all way from the populated areas."

Applejack's eyes widen. "Speaking of populated areas, I got get my family to safety!" she realized. "I'll catch up with ya'll later!"

The orange Earth Pony then made a quick dash towards Sweet Apple Acres.

"AJ!" Rainbow cried.

"No. Let her. She can take care of herself _and_ her family, meanwhile we gotta worry about everypony else." Toby stated.

"Agreed, but we need a plan first." Twilight stated, before everypony then turned towards Toby.

"Why are you all looking at me?" he asked.

"You\re the idea guy." Spike pointed out.

"So I'm the _only_ one who can ever come up with a plan?" Toby asked, sounding deadpan. "That's a lot of pressure."

"That's not true! I help too!" Twilight stated.

"Yes, but I know combat." Toby countered.

"And I know _spells_! Something _you_ have limited information on!" Twilight reminded him.

"Hey, I might not be _book smart_ but I'm _street smart_." Toby stated.

"Which street is that? The 'Sesame Street' you're always talking about?" Rainbow questioned.

"Guys! Focus! No time to argue. Big dragons attacking!" Spike reminded them in a panicked tone.

"Right, right! Sorry about that." The young man apologized.

"Not a problem, you're just stressed, we _all_ are." Twilight said. "Now what do you need?"

"I need to get up there!" Toby said.

"Can't you use your wings?" Applejack questioned.

"No! Then I'd turn into that half-alicorn freak form and I am _not_ turning into that again." Toby stated, firmly.

"Well _I'm_ not carrying you! Your too heavy now!" Rainbow pointed out.

"I'm only a hundred and fifty pounds." Toby said, flatly.

"Yeah, a hundred and fifty pounds of _lean_ and _heavy_ muscle!" Rainbow Dash stated.

"Quit your complaining." Toby told her.

"I'm not complaining! That's _Rarity_'s job!" Rainbow Dash said, bluntly.

"Hey!" The unicorn protested.

"Forget carrying me! Just distract and take down as many of them as you can!" Toby told them as he began to walk away. "I'll try and clear out the town."

"But… but how are we supposed to keep them busy?" Twilight questioned.

Toby looked toward her sincerely. "I trust you."

The dark clothed boy then took off towards the town. Despite Toby's sincere words, Twilight did not feel happy or relieved at all. Nor did any of the others. Most likely due to the big secret she and the girls had kept from Toby.

"Yeah… but not for long…" she muttered to herself.

Toby soon reached the townspeople and started to shout towards the scared and lost looking inhabitants.

"Move!" he said. "Everypony head for cover!"

Toby did his best to make sure everypony had cleared out of town when the dragons hit. He had to get them to safety.

But the dragons were fast. Seeing them head-on was deceptive, and before he knew it, the big giant lizards came flying in and spewing hot balls of fire which created instantaneous blossoms of flame once they hit the ground and exploded. Toby ran, shouting at the others to get back, get into their homes and away from the fire fight, but the town was almost as wide as a football field, open and flat and broad with barely any cover but their little cottages.

Toby couldn't blame for being so scattered and lost, they had all just stumbled from peace and tranquility to chaos and anarchy, in just a few heartbeats.

Toby quickly blasted and knocked away as many dragons as he could see then spotted a giant one landing in the middle of town square. He whistled to get its attention.

"Yo, scaly!" Toby cried.

Growling madly, the dragon breathed a large gust of red hot flame which was headed straight for the town. Toby turned and saw that the crowd of stunned ponies were about to be incinerated by incoming fireball and got to work.

Using his magic and constructs, Toby grabbed the legs, tails and manes of all the mares and stallions that were in the crowd and yanked them all away. He bounded up the little houses, sprinting just ahead of the deadly wave of flame. Finally, he grabbed the one last stallion known as Silver Shell, who had a camera on his neck and was frozen in fear. Toby grabbed the nerdy stallion and pulled him away to safety while the fireball zoomed by.

"Smile!" Toby smirked as the stunned stallion regained his composure enough to snap a shot with the young hero before running off.

He then leaped into the air and created two mace constructs out of his magical energy and began swinging them around and around like nunchucks, knocking out many of the dragons in the sky before dropping down to the ground. After rubbing off the throbbing pain he always gets after using that ability he then turned his attention to the girls who were fighting the dragons as well.

Twilight blasted a few with her magic, Applejack bucked several in the face as soon as they got to close, Rarity used her impressive combat skills, Pinkie rode a few like they were rides Rainbow Dash collided into a few and did aerial combat with them while Fluttershy and Spike ran around screaming their heads off as few dragons chased them.

Toby quickly thought fast, zipped over and knocked away the remaining dragons that were giving them trouble in a black and red blur. He stopped right in front of them.

"Sorry to butt in like that, couldn't help myself." Toby stated. "Plus I'm trying to keep you safe so…"

"We'll let it slide partner…" Applejack assured him before more and more dragons flew over their heads, practically covering the skis. "But I don't know how much longer we can all hold out…"

"Any ideas?" Toby asked Twilight.

"We need to get some reinforcements!" Twilight cried.

"From _who_?" Toby questioned.

"The Castle Guard of course!" Rarity stated. "They're all at Canterlot now."

"Why do we need _their_ help?" Toby inquired.

"Toby, we need _everypony's_ help!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. "Including them!"

"Fine!" Toby said, reluctantly. "I'll get the guards, you distract them and lure them away from town!"

"Again; _how_?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Oh that's easy; look delicious and fun to chase." Toby informed them before Fluttershy ran right past him screaming her little head off. "Like that. Good luck."

Toby then took off towards the castle.

* * *

In Canterlot, things were just as bad as they were in Ponyville, with the dragons attacking, tearing down multiple buildings while all its citizens ran around screaming and fleeing for their lives. Toby zipped around the rich Pony folk and stopped several dragons plus saved a few innocent bystanders on his way to the castle.

Soon enough, he zoomed into the castle and kicked open the front doors to the throne room where all the guards were gathered.

"Prince Toby!" One exclaimed.

"Don't call me that. Now listen up! It's time to fight! Large amounts of dragons attacking!" Toby announced as the guards stared at him surprised. "Well don't act surprised! You know where you live! What did you expect? Something like… 'Hi honey, I'm home!'? Go!"

The guards all nodded, salute and flew off to defend the kingdom from the incoming dragons.

"Man…" Toby breathed. "You'd think they'd look outside a _window_…"

Outside while the castle guard flew off to help fight the dragons Toby raced over to the many burning buildings in Canterlot, zipped in and pulled as many ponies out as he could, all while taking out the flames in a verity of ways like water, removing the oxygen from it and using other objects to snuff out the flame.

Just after he reached the end of the road Twilight and the others all appeared near him thanks to Twilight's teleporting spell.

"Toby! We got most of the dragons away from the town but the rest our still coming here!" The purple unicorn informed him.

"Oh, believe me, I know." Toby nodded. "But we got reinforcements now, so I think we're good."

They all then heard a roaring above them. The group looked up and saw the Royal Guard in middle battle against the dragons but despite their best efforts the dragons had the upper hand and finally they all then used a loud roar that easily immobilized the guards, leaving them vulnerable to a series of tail strikes that sent them hurtling out of the sky and crashing into the ground below. The group was shocked.

"They beat all the members of the Castle Guard!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Man… good help is _so_ hard to find…" Toby muttered. "Remind to tell Celestia that she should consider changing her staff."

"Take it easy on them, Tobias."

They turn and see Celestia and Luna dropping down towards them from the sky.

"They have never faced a threat of this magnitude before." Luna finished. "Nor have _we_."

"Celestia! Aunt Luna!" Toby said.

"Please tell you have a plan to stop them, Princess." Twilight practically pleaded.

"I'm afraid not Twilight, there are simply too many of them for the ten us to take on at once." Celestia despaired.

"What we need is to battle them using a powerful weapon of our own… fight fire with fire, as it were." Princess Luna stated.

"But how are we supposed to do _that_?" Applejack questioned.

"I think I know how." Toby said before turning to Spike. "Spike! I need you to grow to your adult size!"

"What? But you know I can't! Ever since that encounter with Discord I've been unable to!" Spike stated.

"I think I've figured out a way to fix that." Toby mused. As he bent down to Spike's level and held out his hand. "Hold still."

"Huh?" Spike said before Toby put his palm on his little scaly head and started channelling his magic through it.

"Toby… what are you doing?" Applejack asked him as she and the others watched this happen.

"Just be patient, I'm nearly there." Toby advised her.

Red sparks then begin to swirl around Spike but quickly shifted into blue one's before vanishing, along with Toby's aura.

"There. It's done." The young man, concluded. "So tell me… how do you feel?"

Spike breathed and looked at both of his claws, surprised. "I feel… great! Better even!"

"Yep. Discord's chaotic magic has just been overridden by mine." Toby declared. "A little trick I picked up while I was on my own."

"Amazing!" Twilight remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, fascinating, so can he fly now?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Oh, he certainly can." Toby nodded. He turned to Spike. "Give it a try, buddy."

"Uh… ok." Spike nodded as he concentrated hard. The his pupils silted and he slowly grew and grew until he reached his full adult size, complete with wings. He roared a loud victory roar.

"Yes! Yeah, it worked!" Toby cheered.

"Alright Spike!" Applejack cheered.

"Wha-hoo!" Pinkie added.

"Yay…" Fluttershy quietly cheered.

Toby then hopped onto Spike. "Come on big guy, let's ride," he said as Spike unfolded both his wings and took off into the sky to fight the invasion of dragons.

The dragon riding warrior then flew up to the same level as the approaching dragon army, all snarling madly at them.

"You ready?" Toby asked, the giant dragon.

"Oh yeah!" Giant Spike nodded.

Toby then created his swinging mace energy constructs and began whirling them around and around at super speed as they approached them. Toby then began to whack every dragon that came near them while Spike used his entire body to fight them off. From below they were like a bowling ball knocking down nearly every pin in front of them.

"They're taking control! It's too good to be true!" Twilight exclaimed, happily.

"What did you expect? No one can mess with those two when they work _together_!" Applejack said.

"Go Toby! Oh and you too Spike!" Rainbow cheered.

Above them, both Spike and Toby then saw that they still had a lot of dragons to knock down.

"Ready for this next bit?" Toby asked, Spike.

"Oh I am _always_ ready!" Spike nodded.

Toby clapped his hands again, which made Spike's body glow with a blue aura as they began to speed up towards the dragon army. Spike then began to blast multiple fire balls at them before they both collided with the army like a giant missile, creating a huge explosion.

Everypony shielded their eyes from the light of the blast until it finally faded and when it did, unconscious dragons then began to rain down towards the ground while the rest split up into several different directions. It seemed that their formation had been shattered and this sight along caused everypony to cheer.

"Yay! They did it! They did it!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow added.

"Wha-hoo!" Twilight cheered as well. The Princess's also smiled, pleased while Spike landed on the ground and Toby jumped off as soon as he shrank back to normal. They both then approached one of the fallen dragons that didn't appear to be knocked out and loamed over him.

"Ok, start talking, what's this all about anyway?" Toby demanded to one of the dragons.

"The Dragon King… ordered us." The dragon said.

"Dragon _king_…?" Spike repeated, surprised. "You mean there's somepony whose the _king_ of all dragons?"

"That's usually what they mean by 'Dragon King'." Toby pointed out, flatly.

"Oh, right…" Spike muttered.

"Anyways, why did he order you to?" Toby asked them.

"We don't need to answer to _you!_" The dragon snapped.

"Uh… yes you do! You _lost_ remember?" Spike pointed out.

"Don't talk back, hatching! Living amongst ponies? _You_ are a _traitor _to your kind!" The gray dragon snarled. Spike's eyes widened before his head lowered sadly.

"Hey! Leave him out of this and answer me!" Toby demanded. "Why did your king order you to attack us? What's your game?"

"The Dragon King… he said that you declared war on all dragons…" The gray one explained. "So we responded in kind."

"Declared war? I said no such thing!" Toby protested.

"Well _somebody_ did." The gray dragon stated.

"Maybe _that's_ why that part on the list didn't disappear…" Applejack mused. Everypony then gave her a death glare for exposing the secret they were trying to keep from Toby. "Opps…"

Toby whirled around, gawking at the six ponies. "What!?" he exclaimed, staring hard at his friends. "What do you mean it's still on the list?"

"Uh…" Rainbow muttered.

"Well… after we stopped Garble… I saw that the 'Dragon Invasion' part of the list was still on their and… showed it to them." Spike admitted.

"You guys _knew_ about that?" Toby asked, a bit shocked and showing no attempt to conceal his bewilderment. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We didn't want to upset you…" A Twilight compliment said.

"Well good job." Toby remarked, bitterly and sarcastically.

"We're sorry Toby…" The unicorn said.

"Darn tootin." Applejack nodded.

"Totally sorry!" Pinkie Pie added.

"Completely." Rarity agreed.

"Yeah, what she said." Rainbow Dash voiced.

"Yes, we're really, really, _really_ sorry!" Fluttershy cried. "Please, don't be mad at us…"

Toby sighed and looked at them seriously. "We'll talk about this later girls, right now we got an invasion to repel and a war to stop… before it ever even begins. More dragons are gonna come and I don't think we handle another battle like that again."

"You'll never win! Our king is unstoppable! And you even get too close to his stash of goods… he'll kill you!" The dragon warned them.

"So… he's eating like the fat, happy kind of king?" Spike asked.

"That's right." The evil dragon nodded. This made Spike drool a bit as he thought about how many gems the king might have.

"Well he's gonna feel pretty stupid when he's find out…" Toby mused.

"Find out _what?_" Rainbow Dash asked.

Toby paused before speaking and looking towards the destruction. "He's messing with the _wrong family_."

"You have a plan?" Twilight asked him.

"I think so." Toby said.

"Well we're all ears." Applejack told him.

"Ok, well here's what I think; if we can get to _their_ home this time, find the dragon king and take him down, maybe they'll listen since in any type of war if you take out its leader or its king then the whole thing falls apart. Just like a bee hive or an ant hill; if the queen is removed the bee's disband, the queen dies… the hive dies." Toby stated.

"I agree, defeating their leader is important but what is your plan for getting into his fortress?" Luna questioned.

"Glad you asked, right now we have to keep most of them here because right now with all the dragons gone he place is probably low guarded, we need to sneak in from all sides, catch them by surprise then sneak inside." Toby explained. "So in short; we take out Roarek, destroy all their belongings and after their spirits will be so broken and so humiliated they'll gladly hear us out and promise _never_ to attack Equestria again, problem solved. What do you think?"

Everypony just stared at Toby with stunned looks on their faces.

"What?"

"Toby… if you ever turn evil on us… we're toast." Rainbow Dash admitted.

"Oh, I know." Toby said, proudly.

"And how do you suggest we _take out_ Roarek?" Applejack questioned.

"Leave that to _me_. Course I might need some help so you guys will have to come along." Toby stated.

"You can count on us!" Twilight nodded, followed by everypony else.

"Then it's settled, Toby I do believe it's my turn, I want to spend my vacation time… _at the Dragon Castle!_" Spike announced, loudly and dramatically.

"Please don't do that again…" Toby told him.

"Sorry…" Spike apologized.

"So… how we getting there anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"She's right… it would take a long time to get the land of the dragons and I don't think we have that kind of time…" Twilight remarked.

"Not to mention it would take _a lot_ of walking…" Rarity added with a bit of a whine.

"So what do we do?" Fluttershy asked.

Princess Celestia and Luna then stepped forward. "I think _we_ can help with that." The sun princess said.

"Princess?" Twilight said, surprised.

"Help us _how_?" Toby asked.

"Well, using our combined magic, we can teleport you all straight to the Dragon homeland." Luna stated.

"There you will be able to find the Dragon King and converse with him." Celestia ended. "Hopefully, you can convince him to call off his invading forces."

"Won't that hurt?' Toby asked.

"It may indeed be somewhat jarring, but we can do it." Luna nodded.

"Ok then, give it a shot." Toby nodded.

Luna and Celestia gave each other a nod then walk over to opposite sides of the circle. They closed their eyes and began concentrating.

"Alderon Metrion Zintos... Carazon Rakashas Endere... Vaserix Endrien… Necronom Hezberek Mortix!" They both chanted. After saying the incantation, magical energy pours from each of their mouths and then their eyes. The energies swirled around and around the circle and began to slowly consume the Toby, Spike and the girls inside it. Which made Spike very worried, yet Toby looked completely calm and cold.

"I think it's working!" Applejack cried.

"What's going on!?" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"Good luck my little ponies, my son… and be safe." Princess Celestia whispered. Twilight gives her mentor one last nod before the light completely consumed her and her friends. Then there was a blinding flash of white light that quickly filled the room and when it faded all that was left of the group was a large black burn mark on the ground.

* * *

Soon after they were transported Toby and the others all found themselves in a gray, rocky and foul smelling area with pits of lava all around them as well as Volcanos. It was the Dragon Kingdom.

"Well… I think we're here." Toby observed, calmly.

"I think so too…" Twilight agreed.

Pinkie sniffed the air and gaged. "Whew! Who cut the cheese?"

"Your smelling _brimstone_, Pinkie." The red-head said, bluntly.

"Well brimstone or not, this place is rather foul…" Rarity remarked.

"Really?" Spike said as he breathed in the air. "Because it smells pretty sweet to _me_."

"Well of course it does, this is _your_ territory." Toby pointed out.

"And… I think I just found its castle." Applejack said, as she was facing away from the others and staring at something. They all walked over to her and saw the giant rock castle themselves, the home of Dragon King.

"Yep! That's the place." Toby concluded.

"Then what we waiting for?" Rainbow questioned, impatiently.

"Yes! Let us forge on!" Rarity declared.

"Ok, you all know which direction to go in, we'll meet each other at the castle." Toby said. They all nod in agreement.

"What about _you_?" Twilight asked.

"Me? I'm going through the front door." Toby stated as he began to walk forward.

* * *

As the others all began to split up and move stealthily towards the castle in different directions Toby pole-vaults onto the rocky deck of the castle and into two lone dragon guards. Knocking them both out. He cracked his knuckles and smiled a bit, looking satisfied. He then noticed the others all climbing and flying onto the ledge from all different sides.

"Well?" he asked.

"You were right, it's pretty low guarded." Twilight nodded. "I think we're good."

They then all turn towards a somewhat large entrance that lead directly into the castle.

"He's in their?" Fluttershy asked, fearfully.

"Yeah…" The half-human nodded.

While the others all stare at the entrance and listen to the king's loud yet faint breathing from inside it, Toby stepped forward and faced it, ready to go.

"Why don't you guys stay here for now in case this all goes south, I'll call you if we need you." Toby told them.

"But Toby…" Twilight began.

"Just… please don't make me regret bringing you all, even know I'm a bit mad at you… the last thing I want is for you all to get hurt because of me." Toby said to them. "Besides, you still owe me after _lying_ to me."

"Ugh, your never gonna let that go are you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"What do _you_ think?" Toby questioned, raising a brow.

"Ok then… good luck, buddy." Spike said. The others also gave him reassuring looks as well.

Toby gave them a nod before he proceeded inside. He made his way down a dark and somewhat narrow tunnel with a little glow at the end of it. As he proceeded further and further he could feel the gold coins clattering beneath his feet and eventually he found and saw a whole sea of gold coins and gems, the filled the entire chamber and almost went halfway up.

"Whoa…" he breathed.

As he gazed around the chamber he jumped when he noticed the sleeping Roarek close by and froze a bit. He spotted his tail close by and decide to climb up him from there. He quietly snuck through the sea of coins, trying very hard not to disturb the giant dragon's sleep. Toby then saw a hill of coins in front of him and carefully climbed up it. He side down the coins like it was a snow hill and began to walk confidently towards the tail before a large gem tripped him and caused him to crash into the gold coin covered ground, waking Roarek up almost immediately.

"Great…" Toby groaned as he scurried over to another hiding spot while Roarek began to wake up and emerge from the large amount of coins and jewels covering him. He sighed a deep and long sigh before sniffing the air.

"Ah… a visitor… but _who_…?" Roarek mused as he sniffed the air while Toby quickly dashed to a large golden object, pressed his back against it and did his best to keep still and hold his breath, though he wasn't very good at it.

"I can _smell_ you… I can hear your breath… I can feel your _presence_." Roarek said in a quiet tone as he stalked around the cavern looking for Toby. "So… where _are_ you?"

Toby gulped as he continued to hide behind a tower of gems and coins. His breath slowly became heavier.

"Come now… don't be shy… step into the light!" Roarek bellowed as he snapped his tail and caused a shock wave that sent most of the coins flying up, including Toby, before crashing to the ground.

Toby groaned as he shook the coins off him. "Oh… _that_ hurt…" he mumbled before he glanced up and saw that he was starting Roarek, the Dragon King, right in the eye.

"Toby Morrison… Equestria's Greatest Warrior." The Dragon king proclaimed. "At last we meet. The being who has been in a thorn in my side for so long!"

"If I'm such a nuisance, then how come it's taken you this long to come after me?" Toby questioned as he stood up and glared at the dragon. "Oh, that's right, because your nothing but a gluttonous, piece of filth!"

Roarek growled and snorted angrily. "Why you…"

"Listen Roarek, we don't have to do this. Pull back your forces now and nopony else gets hurt. Please… before there's any more bloodshed." Toby said.

Roarek just smirked. "It's far too late for diplomacy boy… you wanted a war… now you have one."

"But I never declared war on you!" Toby protested.

"Then consider this justice for all the dragons you have seriously injured and humiliated over the years!" Roarek snapped, as fire began to burn in his mouth.

"Sorry. Don't see any 'justice' here, all I see is a psycho king whose latched onto an excuse to kill and steal from other living beings and whose so _stupid_, he doesn't even realize that he's being _used_!" Toby shouted.

Roarek roared and charged towards Toby like a freight train but at the last second the human leaps and jumps onto the giant dragon's back and then he began running down his back to the other side. He soon jumped off while Roarek head slammed into the wall.

"Ha!" Toby declared before Roarek used his tail he slam him into the other side the chamber. He let out a loud grunt and as he slid down, a few coins fell onto him. Roarek turned to him and snarled.

"You think you can defeat _me_, Tobias Morrison?! You really think this little scheme hatched between these filthy creatures, that are no more than food to us, will work. Those sniveling cowards with their wings, their fowl magic, and those pathetic sisters who rule the night and day! Well then… perhaps it is time I paid them a 'visit' myself!"

"No! No! This isn't their fault! It was my… WAIT! Leave my mother out of this!" Toby shouted, but then closed his mouth, as he realized what he said.

"Your mother?" The Dragon King asked. He then realized it, as his dragon eyes widened with surprise, "I thought your scent was familiar. You… an illegitimate child of the Sun Princess herself?" He then smirked, "This changes everything: I'll let you, your friends and the hatchling dragon traitor known as Spike live, long enough to watch them all DIE!"

He turned to leave, but stopped when Toby threw a large rock at his head. "HEY! TURN AROUND! YOU WITLESS WORM!"

The Dragon King's eyes narrowed angrily, as he snarled, "You…!"

"You're not killing anypony. You hear me?"

The Dragon King stomped forward, his massive gigantic form towering over Toby. "You will stop me from doing nothing, Mud Blood." His shadow loomed over Toby, as the boy didn't flinch, or even showed fear, "Before you were born, before the reign of Sombre and the Two Sisters, I laid low the Wonderbolts of Old. I instilled Terror in the Hearts of Everypony." He then looked down at the insect of the boy, as he hissed out, his red eyes blazing at him, "I am the_ true_ King of all Equestria!"

"In what world?" Toby asked, flatly.

"This one!" The dragon snapped.

"No more like _your_ world and luckily _you_ are not a part of _my_ world." Toby said.

"Or mine!"

Roarek and Toby turned and saw little baby dragon himself running over into the sea of coins with them.

"Spike!" Toby cried, surprised.

"Ah… the traitor… right on time." Roarek mused.

"What are you _doing_ here?" Toby asked the little dragon approaching him. "I thought I told you to stay behind!"

"Hey, after what _we_ did today, I think we can _both_ agree that I can help you out _a lot_!" Spike stated with a smile, which Toby returned. They then both heard Roarek laughing.

"You think you hope to best _me_? My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail is a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath… _death_." Roarek proclaimed.

"Not very modest he is?" Toby muttered to Spike.

"Or civic minded." Spike added.

"You _dare_ talk to your king that way morsel!?" Roarek snapped. "You will _obey_ me!"

"No! You may think you rule over all of us but you don't! You're not _my_ king!" Spike exclaimed.

"Spike…" Toby breathed.

"Believe it or not Spike I once believed that _you_ would be our last line of defence for the but then Tirek took his egg, gave them to that weak Princess and allowed you to become _soft_." Roarek stated.

"What?" Spike asked, surprised.

"You are being used, Spike." The Dragon King spoke up. "You and the boy were only ever a means to an end. The coward, Celestia, has weighed the value of your lives and found them worth _nothing_!"

"No... no, you're lying!" Spike nearly shouted not believing his lie, but Toby brought him close, to keep him from running out and attacking recklessly.

"What did she promise you? A share of my treasure? A home of belonging?" the Dragon King questioned. "As if it was yours to take!" He bellowed, causing the boys to roll back across the sea of gold coins.

They both groaned as they got up and shook off the large amount of coins that were on top of them.

"Ugh, look Roarek, I don't care how tough you are, my friends and I _will_ find a way to stop you!" The half-human cried.

The King merely chuckled at the two, "I am almost tempted to let you try, if only to start the war. And to watch Celestia suffer. Watch the war destroys her. Watch it corrupt her pure and fair heart and drive her into the darkness, just like it did Luna." He reared back his head on his snake-like neck, as he glared at the two, "But I think not. I think our little game ends here. So tell me, boys - how do both you choose to die?"

He prepares to breathe fire on the two of them, but suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew in at top speed. And smashed at the Dragon King's mouth, clamping it down, as the fire spewed in, burning his mouth. He roared out, as drops and splattered magma spewed everywhere, as he bellowed, "IT BURNS! IT BURNS!"

Toby blinked, "Rainbow?"

"Run, you two! RUN!" She shouted to them both.

"You heard the lady!" Toby told Spike. "Run!"

"Right!" Spike nodded as he and Toby began to run through the sea of gold coins.

"Come back here!" Roarek cried as he began to chase after them, his enormous footsteps making thundering booming sounds.

While Toby, Rainbow and Spike dash past the exit the others came in and start attacking the giant dragon, aside from Fluttershy that is. Twilight and Rarity hit him with bolts of magic, Pinkie threw pies at him and Applejack used her legs to buck tons of coins and gems at him. But the dragon merely waved off their attacks and snorted.

"Ha! Pathetic!" he smirked.

"I told you guys to wait!" Toby said to them.

"You sounded like you needed us! So we came!" Pinkie Pie said.

"I have _got_ to be more specific with my orders…" Toby grumbled.

"Well we're now, and face this clown together!" The farm pony stated.

"You'd think so?"

They all turned as the dragon stomped his feet while moving towards them threateningly. Everypony gulped at once.

"You know everypony believe it or not, I didn't wish to start this war… but you forced my claw!" The Dragon King stated.

"Oh yeah, a dragon that doesn't wanna start a war with the ponies? You know what _I_ say to that?" Pinkie asked before she then shouted, "LIAR, LIAR, PLANTS FOR HIRE!"

"It's pants on fire." Roarek grumbled, flatly.

Pinkie Pie huffed, "Well, you would know: Liar."

Suddenly, the giant dragon got into Pinkie and Fluttershy's face, as he growled, exposing his sharp teeth, "You callin' me a liar, insect?"

Fluttershy gulped, as she squeaked, "She didn't say that. She didn't mean it."

"No..." he hissed, as he was now eye to eye, the girls seeing their reflection in his mirror-sized eye, "But you were _thinking_ it."

Pinkie Pie then whispered to her friend, "I don't like this dragon. he reads minds."

"Correct." Roarek said. "And now you will all _suffer!_"

Roarek then charged up his flame for an attack. Toby thought fast.

"Run! Run!" Toby cried.

They all start running as Roarek breathed a large gust of fire at them, they managed to get away from it as it scorched many gold coins and gems. They ran all around the giant chamber while Roarek continued to try catch and or attack them but each time he tried they managed to dodge him. Toby and the others attempt to go through the exit but Roarek massive tail slammed down in front of them, surprising them and blocking their way. Even the Mane Six gawked, as they saw just how the King dwarfed them, as he roared, looking at the group angrily, as he came closer

"We're trapped!" Fluttershy despaired.

The group turns and sees that Roarek was now facing them and not leaving any room for an exit of any kind. They really were pinned.

"Oh no!" Rainbow said

"Don't worry, I'll make this _quick_." Roarek promised.

"Why don't I believe that…?" Twilight muttered.

"Wait, Roarek! Wait, wait! _Wait!_" Toby shouted. Now that he had no more choices, it was almost a relief for him. He did not have to think now. He knew just what to do. "King Roarek, listen to me, I know I made you and I take full responsibly for my actions in doing so. But they were _my_ actions and mine alone. I'm sorry."

He was pleading now. Though it was something that he had limited experience with, he found it came naturally enough. Whether it is sufficient enough to change anything, he would know in a moment.

"My friends were just following my orders. It was _my_ plan, they were just going along with it. Where we come from, following a friend's orders or suggestions should be reason for commendation, not termination. If I surrender now, all I ask is that you spare them."

"Toby!" Rainbow protested.

"Don't do this, sugarcube." Applejack told him, pleading as well.

Toby ignored them and stepped forward. "Please, sir," he continued. "Let them live. I'll do anything you want, and if you wish to terminate me after I surrender myself to you, then I'll accede to that without protest, I give you my word. Just let them go, that's all I ask."

As Roarek processed Toby's speech without interruption, the others all stare at Toby sadly with almost heartbroken expressions, as they knew that he was sacrificing himself for them again and they could do nothing about it. When the young prince had finished, the older dragon sighed approvingly.

"Well, boy, I must admit… that is some apology. But if it's any consolation…" He paused meaningfully. "…I was never gonna spare your friends. You see… my preference when dealing with a difficult or annoying situation… is to always leave… with a clean slate."

Roarek then took a deep breath, his stomach and throat glowed as flames rushed up towards his mouth as he prepared to incinerate the cornered group in a flash.

As for the young Toby Morrison, he had done he could. He turned towards his friends. At such moment there was little to say.

"I'm sorry."

Closing his eyes, he silently waited for the inevitable.

But just then a large gust of fire hit Roarek head on and ceased his attack as he attempted to use his wings to shield himself from the unexpected attack, but it just kept on coming.

"What!?" Roarek cried. "What is this?"

Everypony turned and to their surprise they saw three dragons, one blue and female, one gold and one green, standing at the entrance and beginning to blow beams of fire at Roarek.

"Now boy!" One of them cried.

Toby got what they were saying, nodded and blasted Roarek hard with a magical blast, which sent him rolling into the wall on the other side of the chamber, the whole place shook once he hit it. He was badly wounded but still very much alive, evident by his breathing. The Pony Gang then turned to the three dragons.

"Come with us if you want to live!" Sapphire told them before her and her companions left.

"I want to live! How about you guys? You want to live?" Pinkie asked the others.

"_Anything's_ better than standing _here_." Toby stated. "So let's get moving."

"Agreed, and by the way…" Rainbow Dash began before smacking him upside the head.

"Ow!" he grunted.

"Don't _ever_ try to do that again. Do you hear?"

"Got it…" Toby groaned, rubbing his head.

"Good!" Rainbow said as she turned and flew off.

"What did I say? What did I do?" Toby asked the others, completely lost. They all groaned.

"Unbelievable…" Rarity remarked.

Toby, still looking confused, then zoomed out the chamber to join the others and soon after they left. Roarek's body stirred before one of his eyes snapped open.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the castle, Toby, Spike, the girls and their three dragon saviors were all huddling behind a large slap of rock nearly one mile away from the castle itself.

"Whoo! That was close! We would have been _dead_ if it weren't for you guys!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Yes, thank you for your help." Fluttershy smiled, though she still seemed nervous by their presence.

"Thank you." The green one nodded.

"And don't mind her shivering, she's scared of _all_ dragons." Rainbow added.

"A wise policy." The red one nodded.

"So… who are you guys?" The human asked the three dragons.

"I am Sapphire." The blue dragon said. She then gestured to her follow dragon allies. "The gold one is the Thorn and the green one is Wind Snapper."

"Hello." Thorn nodded as he chewed on his gems.

"Greetings." Wind Snapper nodded.

"And your… _helping us_?" Toby asked, surprised.

"Of course." Sapphire nodded.

"Yes. Not _all_ dragons share these miscreants viewpoints." Thorn added.

"Just look at the hatchling." Wind Snapper pointed out.

"Hmm… good point." Toby admitted.

"Can you help as stop Roarek?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, you really kicked butt in their!" Rainbow Dash added.

"It still won't be enough, we do not possess the power to stop him." Sapphire stated.

"But _you_ two _do!_" Thorn added gesturing to Toby and Spike.

"Us?" They said.

"_Them_?" The girls practically exclaimed.

"Yes. The bond you two share is the key to your home's safety, you must find a way to unite your powers if you are to win." Wind Snapper told them. Before a loud roared ripped through the air.

"He's awake…" Thorn despaired.

"Then we'll have to slow him down!" Wind Snapper declared. "Come!"

Thorn and Wind Snapper both spread their wings and took off towards the castle.

"Remember you two, you _both_ have the power to save your world!" Sapphire said before flying off.

"Uh… anypony got any what she meant?" Rainbow finally asked. Everypony each said their own little 'No' to that question. "Figures…"

"She said we need to unite our powers… I think maybe a fusion spell will do." Toby stated.

"Toby that's never even been tested!" Twilight Sparkle reminded him.

"This _is_ the test." Toby countered.

"What do you mean? What _is_ this 'fusion spell'?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "I mean hello! You mind explaining to those of us that _don't_ get it?"

"Theoretically it's a spell that cause two beings to become one, with both their powers and personalities traits all combined." Twilight explained. "Though it's never really been done before."

"And what if it doesn't work?" Fluttershy wondered.

Toby paused for a moment. "Oh, then we're history," he answered, making Fluttershy squeak with fear. "Or maybe not, let's find out.

The half-human boy turned to the little dragon. "Spike?

"Um… I don't know… uh… Toby? How do we even know that this fusion spell will be enough?" Spike asked.

"I don't know for sure… but I don't it's the best chance we have of saving Equestria and the world!" Toby stated.

Spike took a dee breath and then sighed. "Ok then… let's do it then!"

"Right." Toby nodded, as he clapped his hands, which caused his eyes to glow brightly as symbols appeared on both him and Spike. The two floated in the air for a second before suddenly they are both drawn together and when they made contact with each other a flash of light was seen before they became two balls of light that merged to create an evil bigger light. When the light finally faded somepony stood on the ground. It appeared to be Toby but he looked very different now.

Toby now wore a skin-tight, black full-body suit. Over top he wore purple scaled armor with little green spikes that had a dragon like feel to it and was shiny enough that some could see their reflection on it.. The armor was composed of gauntlets with pointed finger tips, a chest plate with large shoulder pads a long purple belt, knee-length boots with three claws on the front and one on the back plus a helmet that was in the shape of a dragon's head with long green spines on the top. He also carried with him a dragon styled shield and sword.

The girls were all amazed by this transformation as they stared at the knight standing before them with opened jaws and wide eyes filled with admiration and utter amazement.

"It's like… they've… _fused together!_" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. "Into a… _Dragon Knight!_"

"Well I'll be!" Applejack remarked.

"Amazing…" Fluttershy breathed.

"Awesome!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash added.

"Go get him, boys!" Rarity smiled.

"With pleasure!" Toby said, before zipping over at super-sonic speed.

As this was happening, Roarek was in mid battle with Sapphire, Thorn and Wind Snapper and he appeared to be winning. He grabbed Sapphire's neck, slammed his foot on Thorn's chest and knocked Wind Snapper into a wall with his tail.

"Traitorous fools! You could have joined in destroying those interlopers but now you shall suffer the same fate!" Roarek bellowed, just as Toby the Dragon Knight appeared thanks to his super speed.

"Think again, bonehead!" Toby called out, catching the king's attention.

"What _are_ you?" The Dragon King questioned.

"I the Dragon Knight, part human, part dragon, part alicorn and all kinds of pain for _you_, Roarek!" Toby said.

Roarek growled. "Heresy!"

"Hersey _this_." Toby snapped as his eyes silted like an actual dragon.

On Toby's back two large purple and green dragon wings popped out and unfolded before he squatted and then leapt straight into the air, flying like a rocket straight for Roarek.

"Wha-hoo!" Toby cheered.

From below the girls all watched in amazement as he went Toby upward towards the sky like a recently launched rocket before smacking Roarek right in the face.

"Whoa… Dragon Knight Toby's got wings!" Rainbow cried.

"Not just wings… real _organic_ wings!" Twilight Sparkle realized. "They're a part of the armor he's wearing, like it's alive!"

"Well of course it's alive! That armor is Spike!" Rarity said.

"Incredible…" Fluttershy breathed.

"Yeah, I'll say!" Pinkie Pie agreed before zooming off and then coming back with a foam finger, a box of popcorn and a soda drink hat on her head. "Boy, this is gonna be good!"

"I'll say!" Applejack agreed.

"Oh yeah! Dragon Knight mode _rules!_" Toby declared.

Roarek just roared in frustration and with a beat of his wings he sent a wave of air that was so strong it blew Toby back a little and sent all the girls flying.

"You will _burn_!" Roarek bellowed.

"Not today!" Toby declared as he regained his composure and zoomed towards him. Their battle then began with both opponents slamming into each other constantly.

Roarek then attempted to swing his tail at Toby as they flew but Tobu blocked it with his sword and knocked him back. The giant dragon then breathed a large gust of fire but Toby merely swung his sword around and around allowing him to blow away and dispel the fire as he zoomed straight for Roarek and kicked him straight in the side of the jaw. Toby flew back, pointed his sword forward and as he flew towards Roarek he spun around and around like a top, making him look like a tornado going sideways and causing a great deal of damage and pain to Roarek. The Dragon Knight zipped upward till he was just about Roarek. He drew his hands to his sides and charged two whitish-blue energy spheres with streaks of electricity. Then, he brought his hands together with fingers spread apart and fired a massive energy wave at the opponent, inflicting a large amount of damage to the Dragon Knight who went crashing into the castle, destroying it and everything inside.

Roarek groaned in tremendous pain as the Dragon Knight flew down and loamed over the King with his sword pointed directly at him. Roarek panted feverishly as he stared at the young warrior.

"You messed with the _wrong family_." Toby told the Dragon King, threateningly.

Roarek growled. "Well, what are you waiting for? Think of the glory—seize the day! Celestia would.:

Toby paused and shook his head. "No. She wouldn't. Not like this."

"Then I will be sure to share the details of our little conversation with your mother—the day I rip out her…" The Dragon King began.

"Man, just shut up." Toby said, annoyed. "Oh and if you try and start a war with Equestria again, I warn you; I will personally jump down your throat and knit your intestines into a _sweater_! Try and think about that when you wake up."

Before the Dragon King could respond Toby punched Roarek right in the eye, blackening it and knocking him out cold.

Toby and Spike then defused and stood side by side with each other as Sapphire and her friends finally got back up, looking sore but alive. They smiled at the two boys gratefully.

"Thank you, both of you, without your help we would have been lost." Sapphire told them.

"Back at you, if not for you three we would have been toast of sure." Toby said.

"Maybe, but we all still would have under the command of Roarek if not for you." Thorn stated.

"So… are you gonna _deal_ with Roarek?" Spike asked, a bit nervously.

"No, that would be giving him the easy way out. We'll bring him straight to Tartarus and call back all the dragon troops, once they hear that their leader was beaten by a 'traitor' and a _monkey_, they'll _gladly_ give up." Thorn stated.

"Wow! That's… surprisingly cool of you guys!" Spike remarked.

"Yeah, guess there really is goodness in everything and everyone… you just have to look really hard to see it." Toby mused. "It may be buried… but it's there."

"Wise words." Sapphire smiled. "Fair well then, young warriors…"

The three dragons then took off to the sky, free as birds. Toby and Spike watched them go with smiles on their faces before nodding to each other and taking off at super speed, with Spike holding onto Toby the whole time as they ran.

Toby and Spike then appeared in front of Twilight and the others and checked to make sure they were alright.

"Girls…" Toby breathed, before they each began to come to.

"Toby… Spike…?" Twilight asked, tiredly as she and the other slowly began to get up. They were still sore after being blown away, but now they were able to stand.

Toby smiled his small smile again. "Rest sister, it's over."

* * *

Later, while everypony in town was rebuilding all the homes and buildings that were destroyed and burned down by the dragons during the invasion, the two boys known as Toby and Spike sat at the edge of the lake while the sun set in the background, making the area seem as if it was on fire like was during the attack.

"Boy, that was a close one, huh?" Toby remarked.

"Yeah…" Spike muttered, depressed.

"Something wrong?" Toby asked.

"I don't know it's just… what if their right? What if I am a traitor to all dragons?" Spike wondered.

"Hey, don't think like that." Toby told him, sternly. "You didn't betray anypony or any dragon. You can't exactly betray someone you were never alleged to, after all you were just an egg at the time."

"Yeah, guess you're right… but still… I wonder… if part of me really is like them." Spike confessed. "What if I'm…"

"You're not." Toby said, honestly. "Like you said; what are you… is not the same as _who_ you are."

"Yeah? And who am I?" Spike asked, a bit sadly.

Toby gave him an assuring smile. "Your my _brother_," he said. "And you, me and the girls… we're a family that _cannot _be broken."

Spike smiled back. "Yeah… your right."

"Of course I'm right. When have I ever been wrong?" The half-human asked.

Spike raised. "You really want an answer for that?"

"No." Toby admitted. "But at least the dragons won't ever attack us again, you saw them as the left, no fight left in them at all."

"Yeah and with Sapphire and her friends calling the shots I'm sure everything will be right as rain soon!" Spike smiled.

"We'll see…" Toby said.

The two boy then heard hoof steps approaching them from behind, it didn't take either of them very long to figure out that it was Twilight, Rainbow and the others all standing close by.

"Hey guys." The purple unicorn said.

"Hi everypony." Spike smiled.

"Oh, if it isn't the secret keepers." Toby said, bitterly, which made the girls frown sadly at this.

"Yeah… Toby's really doesn't feel like talking to you guys right now." Spike informed them.

"Well then, _you_ tell him what we want to say." Rarity said.

"Ok. Shoot." Spike nodded.

"Ok, um… well…" Fluttershy began.

"Oh forget it!" Rainbow cut in. "Look, we're _sorry_, ok?"

"Yes, we are truly sorry Toby…" Twilight apologized, sincerely.

"Yeah, we never meant to hurt ya like that little brother…" Applejack said.

"We were only trying to keep you smiling and not frowning!" Pinkie Pie added.

"Yes, you've been so miserable and serious as of late…" Rarity told him.

"And during the moment when you said you wanted to spend some more time with us you were so happy…" Fluttershy voiced. "And we didn't want to take that away from you… we didn't want to see you _unhappy _again…"

"Please don't be mad at us… we were only trying to help." Twilight Sparkle said to him. "And we promise never to keep secrets from you again. Please forgive us. We care about you too much to have you leave our lives."

"Yeah… what they said." Rainbow Dash said, her voice on the verge of cracking up. It seems that she is the most distraught of the thought of not having Toby talk to them ever again.

"Look, I appreciate that you girls were only trying to help and I know I haven't been exactly cheery lately… but that's just who I am lately, like I said; I can't be goofing around anymore, not with this crisis on our hooves." Toby stated. "But… for your sakes I'll try to loosen up every now and then, just please, no more secrets between us anymore, ok?"

"Ok. Thank you for understanding." Twilight said, relieved. "We're glad you're not mad."

Toby turned towards them with a frown. "Who says I'm not mad?" he asked before creating a long energy stick construct and slamming it on their heads all at once. They all grunt in pain and rub their sore heads while he walked away.

"Ow…" They each wince.

"Yep… just like a regular family…" Spike remarked, amused.

"Oh, hey! As long as we're being honest…. Toby I used some of your Bo Staffs to unclog my toilet!" Pinkie Pie cried.

Toby then froze in his tracks and turned towards her with a death glare. "What?" he asked.

"Pinkie… run!" Twilight Sparkle warned her.

Pinkie Pie then screamed at the top of her lungs as Toby started to angrily, and somewhat comedically chase her all over the place. The pink pony then began to giggle and laugh all the way through while Toby continued to growl and try to catch her. Spike and the others also began laughing at this while the part of the list that they didn't tell him about finally vanished.

* * *

**Author's Note: Some of scenes involving Roarek were inspired by 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'**


	7. Time After Time

**My Little Pony: The Human Chronicles**

**Episode 35: Time After Time**

The town known as Ponyville; the once populated place where earth ponies, unicorns and Pegasus's lived in harmony now lies in ruins, nothing more than broken memories of the past. The town hall where the citizens would gather to celebrate the Summer Sun Celebration every year was now a huge pile of broken rubble, most homes around the area were burnt to the ground or demolished while some remain intact but empty. Not a single soul lives in this ghost town anymore; Sugarcube Corner no longer stands to serve the citizens it's sweets and bakery made by the ever so cheerful Pinkie Pie and the owners Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

The trees from Sweet Apple Acres that has once grew delicious apples have all withered and died out, the barns and even the house were destroyed as if a tornado ran through it. The Carousel Boutique where Rarity made countless dresses for her customers and friends was now gone, the only thing that remains were broken mirrors, scattered materials and pieces of the dress form mannequins.

The Golden Oak Library remains pretty much intact despite being a dead tree, inside there were empty selves, not even one book was left but only cobwebs, apparently. The sky was now covered in thick, pitch-black clouds that blocked out the sun for years and without it, plant life cannot grow and the wildlife that Fluttershy took care of have died from starvation, a few however managed to survive and some seem to have even made her cottage near the Everfree Forest a safe haven for them but even so, it is still hard for them to find food.

While it was more or less the same as it was when the past counterparts of Toby and the others arrived there were a few differences such as the whole land not looking so scorched up and a few building that were previously wrecked were back to normal but still empty.

Then, just entering the deserted town, several mutated looking animals appeared and began to race towards the Old Golden Oak Library.

Inside the Library, somepony suddenly popped up and looked out a telescope where he or she or they could see the approaching monsters and other unidentified beings heading towards the library. The pony looking through the telescope was actually none other than Applejack's future counterpart, who still looked the same as she was when Toby and the others last visited but now wore practical black body armor. She turned to somepony close by.

"They're here!" she called out to another pony close by, it was Future Pinkie, who was standing close by patiently until the former farm pony called her. She nodded then Future Applejack rushed over to her spot which lowered until it reached the underground basement of the library where everypony else's future selves, except Spike's, were hiding out. Future Toby turned to them, his armor now having dark blue and red plus yellow elements in it.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Times up!" Future Pinkie announced to everypony. "They found us!"

"Animals…" Future Fluttershy growled.

Rarity stroked her gently. "That's right darling, which means we have to get moving. Now!"

"Agreed! Rainbow go on ahead and find Spike!" Future Toby ordered, the Pegasus

"But…" she began.

"Just do it!" Future Toby stated, firmly.

"Fine…" Future Rainbow grumbled. She trotted over to a little door near the corner of the room and popped down it.

Future Toby turned to Applejack. "How many did you see?"

"A lot. And closing fast, sugercube." The orange pony told him. "Plus there were a few other things out there that I couldn't see."

"We can't stop that many Toby." Pinkie Pie told him, seriously, which was a far cry from her bubbly past self and they knew it.

"I know. We can't stop _all_ of them… but we can sure slow the rest down." Future Toby stated. "Get ready."

"Yes, sir!" The girls saluted as they all got into position while they noticed and hear something drilling through the ground and moving straight towards them. They look around and then spot one dropping in from the ceiling. The colossal creature that approached them resembled a giant metal robot with a narrow and bony like body scaly armor that almost looked organic. It's eyes glowed yellow while everypony stared at it in shock.

"What is it?" Older Applejack wondered.

"Looks like some kind of… robot." The older Toby observed.

"Robot?" Future Rarity echoed.

"They're special, non-living being, usually found in my world." The man stated. "And I think Sombra sent it…"

"I think it's… _going down!_" Older Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Fluttershy added.

It then tried to attack them but Future Pinkie appeared with some kind of machine and yelled as it began blowing a large gust of fire at it.

"Flame thrower… nice!" Toby commented, Pinkie smiled a bit at the compliment, which she appeared to have not done in a long time. This smile faded when she and the others saw that the mechanical creature was still standing, completely unfazed by the attack.

"Jumping June Bugs!" Applejack remarked.

"That attack barely fazed it!" Future Toby growled.

"I don't understand it!" Rarity said, as she spoke several more mechanical beings dropped in and surrounded the group. They all then stood back to back and got ready to fight.

One of them then moved toward the Older Toby, who moved forward and tried to attack the robotic being, but it easily caught his hand and twisted his arm, causing him great pain as he looked towards its evil yellow eyes before Future Applejack bucked it into a wall, only to be knocked back by a another.

"Hey!" Future Toby snapped before he is also backhanded into a wall.

Older Fluttershy tried jumping on one and chewing on its head like an animal only to be lowered down and blasted into a wall.

Pinkie's older self then screamed and tackled one. "DON'T. YOU. TOUCH. FLUTTERSHY!" she shouted with each jab only to have her face grabbed and tossed aside.

Nearby, Older Rarity was engaging one in hoof-to-hoof combat, only to have one strike her hind leg then kick in the side once she was down. The five of them then regrouped and faced the approaching mechanical beasts.

"Gah! It's no use. They're too strong!" Older Applejack exclaimed.

"Gee, tell us something we don't know Applesmack!" Older Pinkie Pie snapped, sarcastically.

"Enough! We need to hold out for Spike, he'll finish off these brutes." Older Rarity stated.

"No. Spike won't get here in time!" The Older Toby said to them.

"So what we do?" Future Fluttershy asked.

"Not sure, wherever we go Sombra finds us. He always does." Future Toby stated.

"Does have something to do with the Time War?" Future Rarity questioned.

"It's possible." Adult Toby shrugged. "I got to warn my other self… maybe he can end it quicker. Just need to get out of here…"

One of the robots then took a long sword that had just fallen to the ground and slowly walked towards them, looking very menacing.

"Then go!" Older Fluttershy told him.

"What!?" Older Toby exclaimed.

"Don't worry about us, we'll hold them off! Just go!" Applejack told him.

"I not leaving without you guys!" Toby told them, firmly. Applejack then began to forcefully push them towards the emergency exit.

"Dang flabit! Do as we say Toe! When you get up there, meet with Rainbow and Spike and watch your tail!" Applejack exclaimed. "Now move!"

Reluctantly Toby nodded and zoomed over to the escape hatch while the robots continued to approach his friends.

"Tobias!" Future Rarity cried as she levitated up a giant blaster like weapon. "Catch!"

Future Rarity then tossed it to him, and he caught. He charged it up with his magical energy and smiled.

"Oh… yeah," he said, before popping open and hatch and jumping down it.

The older Toby then popped out the other end where Future Rainbow and Future Spike we already waiting.

"Ok, I got Spike, now what?" Future Rainbow asked.

"And where are the others?" Future Spike added.

"Uh…" Future Toby began before the library suddenly exploded and burst into flames behind them, much to their shock

"No!" Older Rainbow cried, she attempt to run towards it but the older Toby stopped her.

"We can't help them right now RD! We can't help them… Now let's go!" Future Toby told them, before he and a reluctant Future Rainbow and Spike all began racing through the deserted town while the dead tree behind them burns. However while they are running someone behind them then fired a beam of heat and shoots Spike in the wing, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Spike!" Future Toby cried as he watched his dragon friend fall to the ground, badly wounded and barely alive. One of the menacing robotic beings then appeared on top of him and it looked like it was gonna fire on them again. Toby tried blasting it but it failed to do much damage..

"What the hay is _that_?" Future Rainbow remarked, shocked.

"Trouble." Future Toby replied, bluntly. "There Dark Sentinels. I don't know how he created them… but this is some _serious_ dark magic Sombra's playing with here."

"Yeah, well this dark magic probably _demolished_ our friends! How do we beat it?" Future Rainbow Dash questioned.

"I don't know, I need time to think and we just don't have that kind of time…" Future Toby shook his head.

"Then I'll make time!" Older Rainbow declared. "I'll distract while _you_ prepare your little time thingy!

"Rainbow, no! It'll kill you!" Future Toby told her, distressed. Rainbow looked him in the eye sincerely.

"Don't worry about me. Just get to your younger self, _warn him! _And make sure he gets cracking on wiping his future from existence already! Ok? Good!" Future Rainbow Dash stated as she turned and sped towards it and began to fight the robot.

"I will." Future Toby said quietly with a nod as he tried to ignore the sounds of Rainbow being knocked away and great hurt, though it looked extremely difficult for him as a single tear dropped down his face.

Toby then put the blaster's strap over his shoulder, closed his eyes, extended both of his arms then clapped his hands together. His eyes then opened up with a bluish glow. "Quis quandum era maflictus, iem feachus mas redentegero, quis venit pro mas mesquam essei!"

Then the lines in the circle around him began to glow as well. Pretty soon after a tower of light shot out of the circle and reached all the way towards the dark sky above them both before creating a triangular portal. Toby then transformed in a ball of lighting that crackled a bit before shooting towards the sky, into the portal and vanishing. Once he left, the glow in the circle faded as well. Unknown to him something had attached itself to him as he vanished, something metal but it also looked… _alive_.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, ten years ago, everypony in town was enjoying another peaceful day in their beloved home, which was a stark contrast to the way it might someday be in the future, which Toby and his friends were trying hard to prevent.

Speaking of the young human, he and the filly known as Apple Bloom were both walking through the residential part of town and towards the peaceful fields up ahead of them. They passed multiple ponies on their way an exchanged 'Hellos' with each of them including Apple Bloom's own school teacher Cheerilee, the disc jockey known as Vinyl Scratch and the always clumsy Derpy.

"Hey, thanks for joining us Apple Bloom." Toby told the filly. While he still acted serious most of the time his attitude was still beginning to improve, evident by his wardrobe which consisted of a navy blue jacket over a maroon undershirt, plain denim jeans and brown work boots. His hair was also a bit shorter then it used to be and combed in a fancy style.

"Ah, no problem Toby, I always like to hang out with my big sister… _and_ my new big brother."

Toby smiled in response to this, clearly enjoying being considered a big brother.

"Thanks," he said. After a minute or two of silence Apple Bloom became chatty again.

"So… what _have_ you been up to lately?" Apple Bloom questioned. "Why do you spend so much time alone."

"Ah, that… yeah I've been attempting to fix up a lot of events my future self told me to prevent, takes up a lot of my time." Toby explained.

"Oh, ok. Hey Toby, I got a question for ya." Apple Bloom said.

"Shoot." Toby offered.

"Well… now I know my sis told me not to ask you this but…in the future… the one ya'll are working so hard to stop… do I make it?" she asked.

"No." Toby responded, bluntly. Apple Bloom winced and stared at him startled and in disbelief. "But we can change that."

"Really?" Apple Bloom asked, hopefully. "You'd do that?"

"Of course, I'd do anything for my family." Toby assured her, ruffling her mane playfully, which she giggled in response to. "Come on, everypony is waiting."

Toby and Apple Bloom then proceeded on ahead to the grassy fields.

They both soon arrived there and much to their happiness they found all six of the girls waiting for them and sitting together on a red and white checkered mat with food on top of it. Rarity of course laid on her classic fainting couch. They all smiled when they saw the two approaching.

"Hello, ladies." Toby said in a friendly tone.

"Hi, Toby!" The girls all said.

"Heya, sis!" Applejack smiled. "Glad you could make it."

"Would have missed it!" Apple Bloom smiled back as she and Toy sat down along with the others.

"So, darling, made any progress on stopping those other events on that list?" Rarity asked.

"I managed to solve a few minor ones, it was strangely a bit difficult but I did it." Toby assured.

"Speaking of progress… you sure are looking better." Applejack observed.

"I was in the mood." Toby shrugged. "Plus I've been trying to relax as much I can, but saving the future is my top priority right now. Aside from keeping you all safe of course. So I can't take either of them lightly… but right now I can."

Pinkie just shrugged. "Oh well, at least your happy right now."

"Yes… that's always good." Fluttershy agreed with a smile.

"Indeed." Rarity added.

"Too bad Spike isn't here to enjoy this." Twilight said.

"Couldn't be helped, Sapphire needed him as a witness so that they could properly imprison Roarek." Toby stated.

"So what's the big bad 'Dragon King' getting?" Rainbow asked.

"Life in prison. Without possibility of parole." Toby answered.

The Pegasus smiled. "Sweet!"

"Yeah, gotta love it when you know you never get to see the ones who hate anymore." Toby stated as he took a little sip of Applejack's cider.

"Now _that_ I can agree with." Applejack nodded. "Now we can finally _relax_…"

Just after she said that, large amounts of lightning crashed down nearby, followed by a ball of light.

"Odd… their wasn't supposed to be a thunder storm today…" Rainbow mused.

"Well, it was nice while it lasted…" Toby frowned as he stood up. "AJ, take AB home. I'll check it out, follow me over in five."

"But…" Twilight began before he zipped off.

"So much for progress…" Pinkie said a bit sadly as she lowered her head, along with the others.

At the same time, Toby was navigating his way through the dark forest around him and towards the spot where the lightning struck. Once he reached it he saw a shadowy figure standing in the middle of it and readied an energy ball.

"Step into the light!" he called out. "Now! Before I blast you into next Tuesday!"

"A little dark for you, huh kid?"

Toby's eyes widened as a familiar twenty-eight year old adult male with short but spiky red hair approached him with a somewhat warm smile. He also still carried his giant blaster.

"Future Me!" Toby exclaimed, surprised.

"Hey, how's it going kid?" Future Toby asked with a casual smile.

"What are you _doing_ here?" Toby asked.

"Just came by to see how you were doing, no big deal." Future Toby shrugged.

"You can just do that?" Toby questioned.

"Hey, even heroes need a break." His other self stated.

"Right. So… how is the future anyway?" Toby asked, hesitantly. "Still grim?"

"Well you've managed to undo chance _some things_ but the future's still largely unchanged." Older Toby replied. "Your biggest challenge is yet to come."

"Which you still haven't told me." Toby pointed out.

"Trust me, you _don't_ want to know." Future Toby assured him. The younger Toby frowned at his secrecy.

"So what _has_ changed?" Toby asked.

"Well thankfully thanks to some of your changes, Mom's back." Older Toby said.

"Oh… good. Wait… don't tell me I start calling her that in the future." Younger Toby grumbled.

"You'll get comfortable with it, trust me." Future Toby assured him.

"And what if I said that I don't trust anyone beyond my friends? That includes _me_." Toby stated, firmly.

"Boy, seeing the future sure did a number on you." Future Toby remarked. "I remember what _that_ was like…"

"You do?" Toby asked.

"Yeah, ripple effect, remember?" His older self reminded him. "Whatever changes in the past I remember it."

"Oh yeah… so what about Twilight? Has she come around yet?" Teen Toby asked, innocently

"Well…" His future self began before they notice the aforementioned unicorn herself, along with her friends ran over to them.

"Hey Toby, what's going on?" Twilight Sparkle asked before she and the others gasp once they saw Future Toby. He gave them a two finger wave,

"Hey girls," he said in a friendly tone. He stared at them wistfully. "Good to see everypony…"

"Is that…" Fluttershy began.

"It can't be!" Rarity said.

"Oh yeah! I remember _you_. You're the jerk from the future!" Rainbow realized.

"Nice to see you too, Rainbow." Future Toby said, wryly. "Looking lovely as always."

Rainbow blushed in response to this while Toby raised a brow and tried to glance at Rainbow but she was too busy hiding her face.

"Hey, what are we? Old apples?" Applejack questioned, offended.

"Oh. Sorry, your all looking well, I'm glad." Older Toby nodded with a tender smile.

"What are you _doing_ here?" Twilight asked. "I thought you were still fighting Sombra in the future."

"He is, he just came by to check up on me." Present Toby stated, to Twilight.

"And to tell you about the war." Future Toby added.

The current Toby whirled around to face his older self looking surprised. "The what?"

"A war. Ever since we first encountered each other there's been constant warfare on the space-time continuum." His future self explained.

"A _time war_?" Toby guessed. He then smiled a bit. "Is it bad that I think that sounds _awesome_?"

"Somewhat." Future Toby shrugged. "Look, the point is with two Sombra's working together your job in saving our future just got a lot harder."

"Yeah, I get it. So what do you recommend?" Past Toby asked his older self.

"Well if _my_ Sombra managed to bring back _your_ Sombra and kick off all these events, all we really need to do is take out this timeline's Sombra and mine won't exist." Older Toby said.

"Easier said than done! We've looked everywhere and couldn't find him!" Rainbow Dash butted in.

"It's true, he's constantly on the move." Twilight said. "Which makes tracking him pretty hard…"

"I know some places he might be. I'll check out one while you check out the other." Future Toby told them.

"Sounds good, everyone to him." Toby said the others. "And by him I mean me… the older me… I mean… Gah! Man this is confusing…"

"You're telling us." Rainbow remarked.

"Enough chit-chat, let's suit up ponies and get moving." Future Toby order, clapping his hands loudly.

"But we don't have suits!" Pinkie pointed,

"In fact we don't wear clothes all the time either." Applejack added.

Rarity then leaned in wearing a fancy looking dress. "Speak for yourself.

"Whatever!" Future Toby exclaimed, annoyed. "Just move!"

The Older Toby then zipped off in another direction while the Younger Toby turned to them.

"You heard me, let's move!" he commanded as they proceeded ahead.

"Yeah, yeah. Sheesh, no respect." Rainbow muttered.

"I heard that." Toby piped up.

"You were meant to!" The Pegasus told him as they proceeded towards their next destination, completely unaware that they were all being watched at that very moment.

* * *

Meanwhile, while the two groups headed out to find Sombra's secret weapon, the aforementioned dark king himself was conversing with his own future self who apparently had gone back in time as well and he did not look happy. Not at the least.

"YOU ARE FAILING!" Future Sombra exclaimed to his past self. "You had multiple chances to stop and kill that boy, each time he bested you! Ugh! You pathetic meat sack! I'd kill you right if I didn't value my own life!"

"I've been _trying_, but that boy is as clever as he _fierce_." Present Sombra stated with a growl. "He is nearly invincible."

"Well luckily for _you_ I happen to have something that can _easily_ tear apart that boy and his friends." Future Sombra smirked, evilly. "And you can avoid another failure if you just listen to me."

"You want to talk about 'failure'? If you have _everything_ under control then how come you have failed to eliminate him in _your_ time?" The Younger Sombra questioned, bluntly.

"Because I have been waiting for a quite a while now for my weapons to be fully operational… and now they are." The Older Sombra stated with a smirk. "And now I am giving one to _you_."

"Excellent. When will you be able to send it?" Present Sombra questioned, curiously.

His Future Self chuckled evilly. "Oh… I already have… it should be finding them any moment now and when it comes to you I want you to mass produce it and wipe _everypony _out. Do you understand?"

Present Day King Sombra nodded. "Of course, it shall be done."

"Excellent. It seems that this Time War is already turning in our favor…" Future King Sombra mused, pleased. "Now… I believe you have a visitor to take care of."

"Oh, I know. After all… _you_ told me." Present Sombra smiled evilly as his Future Self. They both shared a laugh before both them assumed their shadow forms and sneaked off while Future Toby approached from the distance.

* * *

At the same time, Toby and the girls were all searching the area that Future Toby told them to go. It was close to the train station and a train had just pulled up, not that any of them noticed. Toby narrowed his eyes as he continued to look around and see nothing.

"See anything?" Toby asked.

"Nothing." Applejack responded.

"Zero." Pinkie Pie added.

"Sorry…" Fluttershy said, sadly while Rarity shrugged.

"I wish your older self could have told us what it looked like…" Twilight muttered.

"Yeah, that probably would have been helpful." Rainbow said, scowling at Toby.

"Hey, don't blame me, blame older me!" Toby told them. "Man, what else could go wrong?"

"Oh come on!" Rainbow exclaimed. "It's like you _want_ something bad to happen to us!"

"Like what?" Toby asked before something dropped down onto the ground like missile and landed near them. They all turn towards the large amount of kicked up dust and saw, to their horror, a mechanical figure emerge from it with angry, yellow eyes.

"Gah! What is that thing!?" Toby exclaimed.

"How are _we_ supposed to know!?" Rainbow questioned.

"She's got a point." Applejack added.

They all backed away as the robotic being proceeded toward them, just then a familiar scaly dragon ran over the hills and came straight for the,

"Guys!" he called out.

"Spike!?" Toby exclaimed, surprised.

"Hey, I came as quickly as I could after the trial was over what…" Spike began, before he saw the Dark Sentinel in front of them and dropped the bag of gems he was carrying. "Oh… never mind."

The Dark Sentinel spotted the fallen gems on the ground then opened up its chest which made a whirling sound as it began to suck some of the air from the area and effectively sucked up all the gems on the ground like a vacuum cleaner. Inside there were multiple crunching noises before it finally stopped and made a belching noise.

"Nice…" Toby remarked, dryly.

Rarity shrieked. "It…" she began.

"Ate all the gems! In one move!" Spike finished, equally horrified. Both he and Rarity fainted dramatically onto Rarity's personal fainting couch.

"Really?" Toby asked deadpan. He then did a double-take on the couch. "Wait… how did that even get _here_?"

"Toby! Focus!" Applejack called out.

"Yeah, walking piece of metal trying to kill us here!" Rainbow reminded him.

"On it." Toby nodded, seriously as he rushed over to fight it only for it to easily knock him down with once punch, making everypony grimace. It then stomped it's foot on him but then Rainbow hit it hard with both of her fore hooves but it didn't budged.

"Leave him alone…" she told it, as she struggled to get to move but she was swatted aside.

"Everypony rush it!" Twilight commanded as they all charged towards the robot, but in a few short karate moves the mechanical beast knocked them all away hard and fast. Seeing this angered Toby and so he tried to blast it with a magical blast but it suddenly opened its chest and began devouring it all at once.

"Come on… come on…" Toby said as he continued to blast the sentinel. As he continued to do so something kind of energy began to radiate off it, and it wasn't being caused by the robot at all. Everypony else noticed this.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Rainbow wondered.

Twilight's eyes widened when she figured out what it was. "Oh no… everypony down!" she cried as they ducked in cover. Once they did the overwhelming amount of unstable magic and chrono energy expanded until it finally caused a massive explosion that expanded over the land, but thankfully didn't destroy anything or anypony, only creating a large crater.

* * *

Meanwhile, while that was happening, Future Toby was approaching the ruined spot where Sombra was while carrying his blaster when he noticed the explosion caused by his younger self.

"What the?" he remarked. "What is that? Gah, better get over there before anypony gets hurt! Next time Sombra…"

Older Toby then zipped off while the current Sombra, and unknown to him his future self watched him go, smirking.

"Yes… next time indeed…" Sombra mused as he and his other self chuckle.

* * *

At the same time, everypony was still lying on the ground unconscious and surrounded by fog created by the explosion until finally Toby woke up and groaned as he stood back up, with every muscle in his body feeling sore. He turned to the others who were also out cold.

"Hey. Hey! Wake up!" he cried. And sure enough they all begin to wake up and stand up, looking just as sore as he was.

"Everypony alright?" Toby asked.

"Oh… I think so, sugercube." Applejack nodded. "Right everypony."

They all nod and muttered something assuring to Toby.

"Ugh… what _was_ that?" Rainbow wondered.

"Twilight?" Rarity asked the smartest member of their group.

"There must have some residual Chrono energy on that monster." Twilight deduced.

"Huh?" Spike asked.

"It means it was still covered in the energy used to time travel." Toby explained.

"So… is it gone?" Fluttershy asked, hopefully.

Toby shook his head. "Nah, I just knocked it away and slowed it down, I'll be back here soon."

"Oh, ok." Pinkie said, before looking forward. "Meanwhile, we can guess who that is!"

"Who?" he asked.

"That!" she said, pointing to the fog, but none of them could see anything but the dense fog surrounding them,

"I don't see nothing." Applejack stated.

"Me neither…" Spike added, scratching his head in confusion.

"Pinkie Pie darling, whatever are we looking at?" Rarity questioned while Toby looked closely at the fog.

"Wait… I _do_ see something!" Toby realized as the figure then became somewhat visible. Everypony readied themselves.

"What's _that_?" Rainbow questioned.

The unknown person then stepped out of the fog and revealed himself to be a young boy and he had a familiar mop of red hair on his head and wore very classic looking red, white and blue clothing, plus a hat.

"Not _what_. _Who_. I'm Toby Morrison." The familiar little boy introduced. "How ya'll doing?"

Everypony gasped. Standing before them was none other than Toby. More specifically the Toby they first met over six years ago and nopony was more surprised than the Present Day Toby himself.

"No way…" Fluttershy breathed.

"Is that…" Rainbow began with a whisper.

Present Toby nodded. "Yeah. That's me," he said as his younger self approached him curiously.

"Do I know you? You look sorta… familiar." The younger version of Toby observed.

"Uh…" Eighteen-year old Toby muttered.

"Uh…? What is this? Your first day with your new lips?" Past Toby questioned. "Talk! Who are you? Why'd you bring me here?"

"I didn't bring you here… exactly." Present Day Toby said, slowly.

"Ok, you got three seconds to start talking before I start taking you apart!" Little Toby said, cracking his knuckles.

"Calm down! This is… complicated. There's been some sort of… time travel accident." Big Toby tried to explain.

"That's how you want to play it? Fine!" Past Toby declared as he tried to attack his older self, which was still unknown to him at the time. But before he could his present day self simply grabbed his shirt picked up him with one hand.

"Just let me explain. Don't make me hurt you, ok?" Present Day Toby said before Past Toby head-butted him, causing him to step back and release him. This angered the older Toby. "You little…!"

He looked like he was about to attack his younger self before Rainbow stopped him.

"Easy Toe! He's just a kid!" she reminded him.

The little Toby quickly recognized Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash?" he spat out.

"The one and only." The Pegasus said, proudly.

"Thankfully." Present Toby joked which made her glare at the eighteen-year old.

Twilight then approached the younger Toby. "Calm down Toby, you recognized _Rainbow,_ so you must know who _we_ are."

"Yeah, your my friends." Past Toby nodded looking at Spike and the girls smiling faces. "But why are you all here and who is…"

Little Toby paused as he stared at his older self, as if the pieces were all falling into his head one by one, slowly but surely.

"Let it sink in…" Present Toby began. "Two… three…"

Past Toby gasped, looking very surprised as it all made sense to him. "Atta boy!" his older self exclaimed.

"Your… _me_." Past Toby finally realized

"Yep. I'm _you_, six years later." Present Toby confirmed.

"Wow! Cool! I'm taller now!" Past Toby remarked, amazed before he started jumping up and down. "Oh man, oh man, oh man! I just time travelled! This is so cool!"

"Whoa, easy there Toby, you need to calm down!" Twilight Sparkle. "Anypony have any ideas on how to send him home?"

They all shook their heads one by one and responded with their own version of 'No'.

"Maybe if I try my own time spell I can send him home." The present day Toby suggested.

"Or… it'll add a sixty-eight year old version of you to add to the set." Twilight stated.

"Awesome!" Past Toby proclaimed.

"_So_ not awesome." Rainbow stated, firmly.

"Guess we'll let twenty-eight year old me sort this out, _after _we deal with his friend anyway." Eighteen-year old Toby said.

"And just _how_ do we do that?" Applejack asked.

"No problem! Now that we got _two_ of me, this will be a snap!" Younger Toby exclaimed.

"It will make things a bit easier, yes, but it's still gonna be difficult and if we're gonna win we need to be _smart_ and we need to be _patient_." The current Toby said, firmly. "We'll attack when we're good and ready, no rushing in with no plan, got it?"

Everypony nodded in agreement while twelve-year old Toby looked at his eighteen-year old self stunned.

"What?" Present Toby asked.

"Man… what _happened_ to me?" Past Toby questioned, almost speechless.

"Uh… puberty?" Rainbow joked.

"Well I don't wanna grow up! No way!" Little Toby said, stubbornly as he turned away leaving the others befuddled.

"Was I really that bratty back then?" Toby asked.

"_Was_?" Rainbow inquired, a bit jokingly.

"Please, don't help Rainbow." Rarity told her.

"Come on, I was just joking!" Rainbow Dash defended. "Besides I kind missed the old Toby, you know; the one who wasn't a workaholic stiff!"

"Hey!" Toby said, offended.

"See? There he is." Rainbow stated before the younger Toby looked up at her.

"Wow, your rump is huge in the future." Twelve year old Toby observed, innocently.

"_What _did you say!?" Rainbow questioned as she towards him looking angered.

"He said your rump is…" Spike began to say.

"I HEARD HIM!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed.

"It was just an observation." Past Toby said.

"You were trying to hurt her feelings, Toby." Twilight told him, as she held the still angry Rainbow Dash back.

"How'd I do?" Younger Toby asked, proudly.

"You know, I had almost forgotten what a _jerk_ you used to be." The Pegasus floating nearby stated, displeased.

"Well he's only Twelve…" Fluttershy pointed out.

"Doesn't excuse the fact that he's acting like a brat." Applejack stated.

"Indeed!" Rarity huffed.

"Come on girls, don't let… _me_ get to you." Toby told the others. "I was young back then."

"And more interesting." Little Toby smirked, insulting his older self. "You look more like stick in the mud."

"Jeez, where do you get off talking to your friends that way?" Present Toby asked, annoyed.

"Hey, like Fluttershy said, I'm twelve years old, what's _your_ excuse?" Past Toby countered.

"He's got a point." Spike admitted.

"Don't help!" Toby told him.

"Look, I'm sorry, this is just a lot to take in right now." Past Toby said, sincerely. "And I tend to say cranky stuff when I'm upset or anxious..."

"It's true." Present Toby confirmed. "Now where is…"

Just before Toby could finish his sentence, his future self then showed up in a flash, much to little Toby's amazement.

"Ok, I'm back, now what's going on here?" Future Toby asked before spotting his wide eyed Past self. "And what's _he_ doing here?"

"Uh… time travel accident…" Present Toby shrugged, as his Past Self approached his adult self full of wonder.

"Whoa… your _me_… aren't you?" Twelve-year old Toby asked his Twenty-eight-year old self. "Then it looks like I'm new and improved! This is so cool! And I'm so cool! Wha-hoo!"

"Oh boy…" Future Toby said, face palming while his pre-teen self began to ramble excitedly.

"Great! Now there's _three_ of him!" Rainbow despaired.

"Well that's not _all_ bad you know." Applejack reminded.

"Oh yeah…" Rainbow realized.

"Look I know your excited kid but whatever questions you have leave them be." Future Toby told him, seriously. "You don't want to know too much about your future right now… it's not a nice place."

"Man, what crawled up _your_ butt and died, Gloomy?" Toby remarked.

"Uh… I don't think you want to know…" Fluttershy advised him, gently.

"Yeah, trust me, you really don't." Rainbow Dash agreed, making Present Toby give her a raised brow.

Past Toby then zipped over to his older self, making him a bit uncomfortable. can't believe time travel is really possible! How did you, I mean, _I_ figure it out?" he asked.

"The time spells are in the Canterlot archives. You know the Star Swirl the Bearded wing? I modified one and came here Now, you have to listen to…" Future Toby began.

"Is time travel fun, or does it hurt? What other powers do I have? Man I have so many questions!" Past Toby asked, very eagerly before Twilight pulled him away.

"Ok Toby, no more sugar. Give!" Twilight ordered, holding out her hoof.

Little Toby sighed. "Oh alright…" he said, defeated as he took out little bits of candy out of his pocket and handed them to Twilight.

"Thank you," she nodded.

"Hey, how'd you know it was candy making him act all…" Pinkie Pie began before she made crazy sounding noise.

Twilight just stared at her. "Years of experience." The Unicorn told her before Present Toby tapped his adult self on the shoulder, getting his attention.

"Hey, uh… think we should tell him?" Toby asked.

"Tell him what?" Pinkie asked, innocently as she listened in.

"That Celestia is our mother?" The eighteen-year old added.

Future Toby paused for a long while before finally saying something. "Nah. Less he knows the better."

"True." Present Toby nodded. "And what about the war?

Younger Toby turned to them. "The what?"

"The Time War that we're currently fighting."

"Time war? Awesome!" Younger Toby exclaimed.

"Told ya." Teen Toby said to the others.

A thought then popped into Twilight's head. "Hey… Future Toby?"

"Yeah?"

"Well… what if the whole reason this time war started is because… like you guys the present and future Sombra's are working together… because Sombra has his own time spell…" Twilight deduced.

"What!?" Future Toby exclaimed, stunned. "How would that be possible!?"

"We don't know! _You're _the time spell expert!" Toby pointed out.

"Not completely!" His Older Self stated.

Just then the giant robot that attacked them earlier landed right in front of them, kneeling. His impact caused them all to fall right over due to the tremor.

"Oh great! Lugnut is back!" Present Toby remarked, sourly.

"Whoa! You guys have Robot's?" Past Toby asked the girls.

"No… but Sombra does…" Twilight said, fearfully as they backed away from it.

"Who?" The Little Toby inquired, confused.

"You'll learn about him later! Now move!" Present Toby told him before they quickly dodged a heated blast from the mechanical monstrosity. They all skid across the ground before stopping.

"Don't make me remind you that if the kid goes _we_ go to!" Future Toby told his teen self.

"And if _I_ go… you cease to exist also…" Teen Toby realized.

"Exactly. So make sure that doesn't happen! I _like_ breathing!" Adult Toby said, firmly.

"Maybe if I hit it with locator randomizer spell…" Twilight said as she charged up her magic.

"Twi, no!" Future Toby cried, but it was too late, Twilight had already fired and the mechanical beast had already absorbed the entire blast.

"It absorbs magic, ok!" Older Toby told her.

"Oops…" The unicorn grimaced.

Spike then stepped forward. "Bet it doesn't absorb fire!" he declared as he breathed a large gust of it which scorched it a bit but it easily broke through it and grabbed the dragon by the neck.

"Spike!" Everypony cried as he the sentinel began to dragged away.

"Help!" Spike yelled.

"Let him go!" Past Toby shouted as they raced towards him, only to be hit by a magic wave that sent them all flying high into the sky.

* * *

At the same time, the Princess' were just finished up some royal paperwork handed to them by their loyal servants.

Then much to their shock, the three Toby's and the Pony gang all came crashing through one of the stain glass windows and rolled across the ground looking sore. The two sister then dashed over to the group looking worried.

"Twilight! Tobias… Tobias?" Celestia asked, surprised when she saw three Toby's on the ground.

"Ugh… hi, Celestia." Future Toby asked, wryly.

"What happened?" Luna questioned.

"Long story short, a robot from the future attacked us, my younger self got pulled here and now it's got Spike." Present Toby explained, quickly.

"Yeah, and now we gotta go after him!" Past Toby cried, as he started to run off but was held back by Present Toby. "Hey! Let me go! I need to save him!"

"You can't right now, you'll die, which _I_ will die as well!" Teen Toby told him, as he continued to keep his younger self in place, who struggled to run off.

"Then I die!" Past Toby said, stubbornly. "But I have to try to save him!"

"Look kid, I know how you feel but we can't rush in." Future Toby stated. "If we don't think, we'll destroyed for sure!"

"And _everypony_ knows how unfun that is!" Pinkie Pie said.

"So what should we do?" Rainbow asked.

"Well.. maybe if we ask Future Celestia, she'll be able to give us some much needed info." Older Toby suggested.

"Future Celestia?" Twilight echoed, surprised. "So it's true? She does survive?"

"Sorta." Future Toby shrugged.

"Sorta?" Princess Luna repeated.

"Please, what do you mean by that?" Princess Celestia added.

"You'll see." Future Toby said as he bent down, took out a piece of chalk and began scribbling some markings onto the ground.

"What's _that_?" Past Toby asked.

"It's a little spell the other Celestia gave me in case I needed to contact her from a far off place, this is pretty far so…" The Older Toby said as he stood up and clapped his hands, making the symbols glow and project a giant blue screen in front of them. They all gaze at it amazed.

"Cool trick!" Past Toby remarked.

"Thank you." Future Toby nodded.

"I do not remember this sort of spell…" Celestia mused.

"That's because you don't know it yet, you'll learn it someday, don't worry." Adult Toby assured her. "Course it did take you six days to get it right."

Celestia made a certain face at Older Toby before something began to appear on the blue screen.

"Hey, I see something!" Rainbow told the others.

The image then became clear and they soon saw an image of Celestia' future self, only to their shock they saw that the Future Princess of the Sun had greatly grown in size, to a point where she was almost unrecognizable.

"Greetings everypony," she said, with her mouth full.

"_That's_ Celestia!?" Twilight exclaimed, shocked as she stared at the now bigger Celestia along with everypony else, Celestia looked especially shocked by the state of her older self.

"Good gracious…" Rarity expressed.

"Whoa Nellie…" Applejack

"Oh _please_ tell me that magic screen adds a hundred pounds!" Rainbow Dash begged.

"Even if it _did_ what about the other _two hundred_?" Present Toby questioned.

"Oh my…" Celestia said, putting a hoof on her face and lowering it.

"It appears your sweet tooth over powers you later on…" Luna observed.

"Yeah… next ten years are pretty hard on ya, Big C." Future Toby stated, grimly.

Past Toby snorted and snickered. "Or should we say… _Bigger C_," he joked. All three Toby's laughed out loud.

"You're not helping matters." Princess Luna told them, sternly.

"She's right, this is no joke Toby's!" Twilight Sparkle added.

"Are you _looking_ at her?" Past Toby asked, amused.

"Because you have to admit it's pretty funny." Future Toby said, agreeing with his pre-teen self.

"Almost as funny as _you guys_ when you come into contact with _poison joke_." Present Toby added.

"Oh yeah! I remember seeing pictures of that!" Younger Toby realized.

"Me too." Older Toby nodded.

"Toby's!" Rainbow exclaimed, annoyed.

"Sorry…" All three Toby's said at once.

"Now Celestia, I know you have many questions but first… Tobias… _my_ Tobias. If you are wondering how the Dark Sentinel followed you here, it is because Sombra sent to it. That was its mission when it attack, he _wanted_ you to go to the past so that his past self could mass produce them use them to wipe everypony out." Future Celestia explained. "Then ten years later, he'll do the same to _this_ timeline's Toby and then the next. Creating a _time loop_ as it were. He _used_ you Toby, from the start."

Future Celestia allowed everypony to let the info she just gave them sink into their heads before she spoke up again.

"Oh and in the future… Celestia… Ahem… every time you think of having a sweet of some sort… think about _this_." Future Celestia told her past self before revealing something that made everypony shout and whimper in horror and disgust as they closed their eyes until Future Toby finally managed to make it disappear.

"Well _that_ was pleasant!" Present Toby remarked, disgusted.

"Not really…" Rainbow shook her head.

"Not at all…" Fluttershy added looking especially terrified.

"Man… how could I have let this happen!?" Future Toby grumbled.

"And how could Celestia let herself go with so many non-fat filled products available?" Past Toby questioned which earned him a smack upside the head, courtesy of his eighteen-year old self. Celestia lowered her head in shame

"Little Toby, please focus." Luna told him. "That mechanical monster has Spike!"

"Sorry." Younger Toby said.

"Man… what does that thing think it is? Dragonnapping Spike? I'll make it pay!" Rainbow Dash declared as she began to zoom off only for Present Day Toby to grab her tail and hold her back.

"Whoa there, sparky!" he told her before pulling her back somewhat forcefully. "Let's not go rushing ahead."

"Yeah, as much as I hate standing around even _I_ know that we need a plan." Past Toby added.

"I _do_ have a plan!" Rainbow Dash protested. "We fight! We fight until it scrap metal and save Spike!"

Everypony just stared at her blankly, for absolutely nopony thought that was a good plan at all.

"Your quite the strategist." Future Toby remarked, flatly.

"Well Future Boy, what do _you_ think we should do?" Rainbow asked.

"We _think_, because as hard as it is for you to believe there are _consequences_ to _rash actions_." The Older Toby stated. "Unless we think of a good plan right now who knows what that thing could do to the little guy."

Twilight's eyes then widened. "Wait… what if Sombra _wanted_ you to come back here?"

"What do you mean?" Future Toby questioned.

"You said that you didn't know how he created them, but what if he got the from the future and then mass produced them in the past… which is now. Like a time loop." Twilight deduced.

"And he only got them from the future because _this guy_… went back in time!" Present Toby said as all the pieces began to fall into place.

"He _tricked_ me!" Future Toby realized with growl.

"But how?" Present Toby asked.

"Remember, Sombra is _very_ smart, he _knew_ Future Toby here would pop over here eventually." Twilight Sparkle said. "He just waited for this moment. He waited for _ten years_."

"And once he did he snuck that creature over and let pass over." Applejack added.

"And now that it's loose…" Fluttershy began, fearfully.

"It'll destroy everything!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Not to mention _our_ Sombra will be helping it!" Rarity despaired. "And then he shall mass produce it and destroy. Every. Single. Gem. In Equestria!"

"So to put it bluntly… it's _your_ fault." Rainbow remarked to Future Toby, making everypony glare at her fiercely. She chuckled, nervously. "Just saying…"

"Fear not everypony, in order to break this loop we need to destroy this creature _now_ before it has a chance to get to Sombra." Celestia stated. "Toby, I need you, Twilight, your other selves and your friends to stop it immediately."

"You got it your highness." Future Toby nodded.

Past Toby snorted and snickered again. "Or should I say… your _mega highness,_" he quipped. The three Toby's laughed out loud again.

"Toby!" Twilight scolded them.

"Sorry!" They all said.

"So what's the plan, Stan?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I don't know…" Future Toby mused, thoughtfully. He turned to his younger selves. "We should talk this over. Girls, Princess' you all search for the Dark Sentinel. We'll meet you there once we come up with a plan."

They all nodded and proceeded out of the throne room while Future Toby led his two younger selves to another room where he began to explain more about the situation to his twelve-year old counterpart, much to his surprise and horror.

"So you're saying not only as Equestria being destroyed but the girls might also be too unless we stop it?" Past Toby questioned, looking a bit shocked and somewhat distraught.

"That's right." Future Toby nodded.

"And before that… _this_ guy managed to cause all our friendships with them to be broken." Present Toby added.

"Hey, that might be _you_ someday unless you change it, remember?" Older Toby reminded him.

"Man… I can't imagine my life without Spike and the girls." Past Toby expressed, sorrowfully.

"I don't have to imagine it, I _lived_ it and it was awful!" Future Toby stated. "Luckily, _this_ Toby brought us back together."

Present Toby smirked proudly and waved.

"But even with all the changes he's made we're still fighting a losing battle." Future Toby added. "And unless we stop this thing here and now I might not have a future to go back too."

"Which is gonna be hard considering it beat us all up without even _trying_." Present Toby pointed.

"Exactly." His older self nodded.

A thought then popped into the head of the twelve-year old Toby. "Why didn't Celestia come along too? Maybe _she_ could help."

"I don't want to bore you with the time travel details but _mass_ effects the whole thing so… she couldn't come even if she wanted to." Twenty-eight year old Toby stated.

Eighteen-year old Toby's face fell a bit. "She couldn't come because of her weight?" he asked, deadpan.

"You saw that lady, she can't go _anywhere_." Future Toby said, bluntly. The other two Toby's nodded, seeing his point.

"So now what?" Present Toby asked.

"Well I know one thing; we can't give up hope!" Future Toby stated. "We got to find some way to beat this thing!"

"No need to tell _me_ twice!" Pre-Teen Toby smiled, confidently. "But what's the plan on stopping it anyway? Because I got nothing!"

Present Toby continued to stand there looking almost like 'The Thinker' before his eyes lit up with an idea.

"I got it! Sombra gets these things because his future self gave them to him but we can destroy them _now_… in the present… _before_ he gets them… before he makes any significant changes… then they'll never have been created in the first place." Teen Toby realized.

"And cause less damage to the future. Smart." Future Toby admitted.

"I know." Toby and his younger self both said, causing the two to look at each other.

A few seconds later, Rainbow Dash burst in through the two giant doors and flew over to the three Toby's.

"Toby!" Rainbow cried

"What?" All three of them asked. They looked at each other and then at Rainbow. "Them or me?"

"All of you! Either of you! Doesn't matter!" The Pegasus said. "Look we got a problem."

"Ugh, what is it _this time_?" Younger Toby questioned, rolling his eyes.

"We found out where that giant metal thing is!" she told them.

"Where?" The Future Version of Toby asked.

"In the center town, everypony' already been evacuated but…" Rainbow began before both Present and Future versions of Toby zoomed right past her.

"Good, we're on our way!" Present Toby called out to her.

"Make sure everypony stays back while we finish it!" Future Toby added.

Past Toby then zoomed around her next. "Gotta go, girl!" he chirped before leaving, leaving Rainbow exasperated.

"Great… I can't decide whether having three of him is a _good_ thing or a bad thing." Rainbow commented to herself before taking off in their general direction.

* * *

A little while later, the three Toby's had stopped running and began walking the rest of the way and while the adult Toby took the lead the teenage and pre-teen Toby's were talking behind him and the eighteen-year old Toby seemed to be enjoying himself like he used to all those years ago as he told the younger version of himself little bits of what's to come.

"Ok, what else is coming? Ah, yes. Superbowl winners; Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh and 'Lost'… they were all _dead_. I _think_…" Toby said, sounding a bit unsure about that last part.

"Cool. Hey, how'd you lose my hat again?" Younger Toby asked.

"I didn't _lose it_ I just…" The Present Day Toby began before his younger self cut him off.

"Are we there yet?" he called out to big Toby.

"Yeah, I think we are." Future Toby confirmed, looking up ahead where they spotted the lone Dark Sentinel next to the still captured Spike, who was bound up tight and kneeling beside the metal behemoth while the robot like being just stood there in the center of town like a statue.

"There's Spike." Little Toby observed. "Ok, now what?"

"We gotta get Spike away from there, which one of us is the fastest again?" Teen Toby asked.

"That be _me_, I'm older so I'm much faster now.." Future Toby stated

"Cool! Hey, how much _stronger _do I get when I'm older?" Past Toby asked.

"A lot!" Both of his older selves said.

"Sweet!" Past Toby smiled. "Now go for it!"

Future Toby nodded and took off towards them at near light speed. Then just when the robot had turned its attention to him and prepared to strike the fearful looking Spike, the older Toby suddenly grabbed him before it could.

"Gotcha!" Future Spike said before zipping over to a little far off yet close by. "Ok little guy, just stay there, ok?"

"Yeah, sure! No argument from me!" Spike nodded before Future Toby zipped back to join his younger selves in staring down the metal behemoth who looked especially angry with them.

"Alright, come on Toby's! All together now!" Present Toby declared as they charged toward the Sentinel, who also did the same.

Present Toby then went in, enlarged his fist and tried to strike it but the robot caught and tried to strike back but was block by his other large hand. It prepared to charge up and blast him but Toby head butted it and knocked it back. But it simply did the same and knocked him over. Past Toby then went in and rapidly punched it the side only the be swatted like a fly. Future Toby then hit it with his blaster then punched it so hard it literally knocked it's robot jaw off, but the robot quickly fixed it up and released a pulse that him flying back to his other selves.

"Gah! It's not use! It knows every move we're gonna make!" Past Toby exclaimed.

"Of course it does, it was built to destroy us!" Present Toby reminded. "Any ideas big guy?"

"Just one. I'm thinking maybe if we blast it with enough magic, it might overload and destroy itself!" Older Toby said.

"_Might_!?" Past Toby echoed loudly, sounding a bit worried.

"Well it's better than _won't_! Now let's do it!" Future Toby yelled.

"Agreed!" Present Toby nodded.

"Yeah!" Younger Toby cheered.

The three of them then got into position around the metal being as he turned to each of them and began to charge up again. The three of them then cupped hands together, drew them to their sides and then magic slowly became concentrated into a single point between the cupped hands.

"Ok, on my mark!" Future Toby cried. "Three… two… one! GO!"

All three of them extended their hands forward to shoot out streaming and powerful beams of blue magical energy at the robot who then extended both of its arms as it began to absorb their power. It glowed brightly as their power was sucked into it and while it was able to take it for a while, it's whole metal body began to come apart at the stems.

The others then arrived and saw what was happening right away.

"It's working! They're overloading it!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Yay Toby! Go Toby! And you too, Toby!" Pinkie cheered, waving her pom-poms.

"Oy… your making my brain hurt…" Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Yeah, I'm right there with ya…" Applejack agreed, rubbing her head. "In fact, I may need therapy after this…"

The Dark Sentinel then tried to move and get away from their constant flow of magic but the Older Toby quickly prevented it from doing so.

"Too late, dirtbag!" Future Toby sneered at the robotic creature, who made a whirling sound as it charged and charged until finally… it blew up a massive explosion. Knocking nearly everypony off their feet and hooves.

When it was finally done, the girls and Spike rushed over to them.

"Toby!" They cried.

"Hey, are ya'll alright?" Applejack asked, worried.

"Ugh... yeah..." Future Toby assured them as they all struggled to get up but found it painful to do so.

"Easy Toby's… you just went through a massive magical drain… your body needs time to fix itself." Twilight advised them.

"Yeah… sorry…" Future Toby said.

"Well done, you three."

Everypony turned and saw the two Princess' descending above them.

"Princess'!" They cried.

"Excellent work Toby's, I take it that the problem has been solved?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, Mo-I mean ma'am. Yes, it's over." Future Toby nodded, as he put his blaster over his shoulder.

"Thank goodness!" Present Toby nodded.

Past Toby cheered. "Whoo! That was awesome!" he turned to them. "Did you guys see that? I did that! Whoo!"

"Yeah, we saw it. Nice job kid." Rainbow Dash said, patting him on the back with her wing.

"Thanks You know… I take it back. Your rump is actually bigger in the past." Little Toby told Rainbow, who just glared at him as she looked him in the eye.

"Don't make me do the whole universe a favor and wipe you from existence by kicking you in the stratosphere," she warned him.

Present Toby laughed a bit. "Watch your language Rainbow, remember; he's just a kid," he echoed. "And kid, remember that it upsets Rainbow when you play with the Rainbow. Although… he does have a bit of a point.

Rainbow just growled, angrily while her coat turned red as if her body had just burst into flames.

"In any case, at least that is one less danger to the Future that we need to worry about." Luna stated.

"Yes, and we couldn't have it through this without you Toby, thank you." Celestia nodded. The three Toby's looked at each other confused. "All three of you, I mean."

"Ok, this is getting annoying." Rainbow remarked.

"Tell me about it." All three Toby's said at once.

"Please stop doing that." Applejack told them, bluntly.

"Sorry." They all said again before covering their mouths. Everypony then laughed in amusement.

"Well, now that _is_ over, it is time to spend _this_ Toby home." Luna stated. She turned to the future version. "I trust that you can handle it?"

"Of course." Future Toby nodded.

"I'm gonna forget all this aren't I?" Past Toby guessed. He looked to his eighteen-year old self. "I mean… _you_ don't remember."

"Thanks to my spell you'll think it was a dream." Princess Luna answered. "But when the time comes you will remember it fully."

"Like… when he leaves?" Present Toby asked.

Luna just smiled a mysterious smile. "Well… anything is possible."

Toby accepted her vagueness with a smile of his own while Rainbow Dash walked over to Little Toby and put a hoof on his shoulder.

"See you later slick, try to be nice to Past Rainbow ok? Or else I'll _smack you_ later on." Rainbow Dash told Past Toby before peaking him on cheek while nopony was watching.

Little's Toby's face blushed as he rubbed his cheek. "Aw… what'd you have to go and do _that_?" he asked, embarrassed.

Everypony then turned to them looking interested and confused.

"Do what?" Pinkie Pie asked, curiously.

"Nothing!" Rainbow denied, quickly.

"But you…" Younger Toby began before Rainbow Dash immediately gave him a death glare that sent a very clear message to the pre-teen. "Never mind…"

"Well safe trip little critter, see ya soon." Applejack said as she hugged and nuzzled little Toby, which he returned.

"Alright then, shall we go now?" Future Toby asked.

"Ok!" Past Toby said as he ran over to his adult self and stood by him as he prepared the spell. Then Present Toby approached them.

"Hey, it was nice… seeing… _me_ again." Present Toby his younger self.

"Yeah, me too." Younger Toby nodded.

"Likewise." Future Toby added. "But just remember kid, there's a time to be serious and a time to be with your friends. Make sure you know which is which."

Present Toby nodded to this, while his Future Self turned to Little Toby.

"And you… while I know you won't remember this until later… I just want you to know that there are some situations out there that are bigger than even you are, get out of your own way and focus on what's important; everypony else."

"Ok!" Past Toby nodded before turning to Luna. "Ok, fire away Princess!"

Luna nodded then hit Little Toby with a little beam of magic that made his eyes widen just before Future Toby clapped his hands and caused them both to become balls of light that shot into the sky. Everypony watched and waved goodbye until they finally vanished.

"Well… that was fun… sorta." Rainbow shrugged.

"Sombra's still out there though…" Twilight reminded them.

"Doesn't matter, right now, we got a _war_ to end." Toby stated. "I know none of us wanted it, but a war is what we got so we gotta do everything we can to end it and _defend_ this world! As long as we're alive!"

The girls all nodded in agreement with confident smiles on their faces. The Princess' watched this and smile proudly.

"It seems the future is good hands now." Princess Celestia mused.

"Indeed." Princess Luna nodded. She then smirked. "Now let's talk about your dietary habits, shall we sister?"

Princess Celestia just lowered her head with a unhappy sigh.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Future, just as the older Toby turns back from his light form and into his solid form, a ripple of light washes over the land and suddenly all the damages caused by the Dark Sentinels was quickly erased, much to the Older Toby's pleasure.

"Looks the same but... where..." he began to say before he heard a familiar voice.

"Toby!"

He turned and around saw the future versions of his friends all moving towards him.

"Toby, you ok?" Future Rainbow asked.

"What happened, sugarcube?" Future Applejack questioned.

"Do you have any snacks?" The older version of Pinkie Pie added, sounding more like her old self. Toby just smiled at this.

"That kid is so _crash_." Future Toby remarked with a smile on his face.

* * *

Elsewhere, back in the present day Sombra's castle, the evil king had just figured out what had just happened thanks to one of his servants, who was currently whispering into his ear and with each word spoke he got angrier and flamier until finally, with his eyes and horn glowing brightly with dark magical energy he shouted in utter rage. Meanwhile at a nearby village, the castle exploded in the distance as the whole shook, leaving everypony confused while the dark king himself huffed and puffed, completely unharmed and full of anger.

"THIS. IS. NOT. OVER!" he promised.

* * *

**Author's Note: Parts of this episode were inspired by the Ben 10 episode 'The Forge of Creation' and the Lab Rats episode 'Back from the Future. Plus the Dark Sentinels were inspired by the 2023 Sentinels in 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' and the last scene was inspired from the movie 'Hercules'.**


End file.
